Sevens High, Eights Are Wild
by Anguirus111
Summary: A series of vignettes showcasing the chaotic friendship between 007, James Bond, and 008, Samantha Stone.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is an idea I've been thinking about for quite awhile. Basically it came about from some things I read about the James Bond franchise: One is that senior agents, aka those that have been around the longest, of the 00 division are 007, 008, and 011. The second is that 007 and 008 share an office together. The third is that while the books contend that 008 is male, the 007 tabletop roleplaying game implied that 008 may be female. With that in mind, I came up with the idea of a 008 named Samantha Stone(no real reason behind the name) whose friendship with James Bond is one based on a humorous if chaotic nature. This chapter is the first in a series of vignettes surrounding the two that I came up with.

There's no overarching plot and they take place up and down the Bond film timeline in no particular chronological order. I'll mostly have a note before most chapters about either what Bond film it precedes or follows or what Bond is supposed to be featured in it.

MI6, London, Great Britain: In a building filled with secrets, lies, intelligence, death, and more, psych evaluations were just a fact of life. If anyone knew this fact and hated it the most in that organization it was M, the head of MI6. He felt head shrinks belonged in sitting rooms talking to individuals with normal problems like hidden emotional complexes or marriage issues or anything else, not speaking with trained infiltrators who often doubled as assassins all in the service of queen and country. They were trained to know that their problems should be kept internal only to themselves and if they had any concerns about the work they were doing they were to speak with him and him only.

But this was out of his hands as the government demanded these evaluations lest a 00-Agent fly off the handle and cause problems in the agency. It had yet to happen and in M's mind in likely never would, but that was lost on the parliament and so here he was in yet another session speaking with some person whose name he'd forgotten about the agents under his direction.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" he asked of the psychiatrist after realizing he'd zoned out with his reverie.

"I was just saying that the while the individual personalities of each person in this agency are important, so too are their interactions of those personalities with each other," the psychiatrist continued. "After all, while many in this organization often find themselves on prolonged missions in the field, this agency is in some ways a home to them, a safe haven of normalcy. And should there be sources of pleasantness or even contention here, it will affect the agents on their future missions and in normal everyday life outside of this agency."

"I suppose that makes sense," M reluctantly admitted since one of those sources of contention was sitting right across from him. "I do encourage our agents to be on good terms with their fellow agents."

"Yes and I commend you for that," the psychiatrist said in full agreement as they took out their notes. "And so I would like to discuss some of those agents' relationships with each other."

"Don't be ridiculous," said M cutting in immediately. "Our agents don't have relationships with each other, it's expressly forbidden under agency laws. Any that might, face immediate disciplinary action."

"My apologies, I mean friendships," the psychiatrist continued unperturbed. "At any rate, I was hoping we might start our discussion of two particular agents and how their friendship impacts this organization."

M had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going and he desperately wished they would talk about some other subject. "And which two agents would those be?" he asked in a vain hope that he was wrong.

"Agents 007, James Bond, and 008, Samantha Stone," the psychiatrist responded as M had to resist the urge to sigh.

"And what would you like to find out?" asked M dimly, knowing the psychiatrist was asking for more than they'd bargained for with that answer.

"Start at the beginning and we'll work our way from there," said the psychiatrist with a smile that M was sure had appeared on many enemies his agents had encountered over the years.

"Very well," said M verbally sighing this time. "It started many years ago when they first met…"

The early 1960s: It was the beginning of a time that would later be known as the swinging 60s in Great Britain, or so some would later claim, and while MI6 was not a business per se, things were still booming with the Cold War heating up between the United States and the Soviet Union with Great Britain seemingly caught in between the two powers, geographically speaking at least. With the world seemingly a hair trigger away from nuclear annihilation, it was up to the agency to stop any plots at home that the Soviet Union might have on her Majesty's Government and at the same time stop any possible plots abroad before the American's engaged in 'cowboy diplomacy' as they liked to call it.

As such, it was important that MI6 remained fully staffed and at the moment that was not the case. In the past few years, they had lost three decorated agents, 006, 007, and 008. 006 had been one of the few agents to live long enough until retirement, what happened to 007 was highly classified, and 008 had unfortunately met an untimely end on assignment. And after much searching, 007's position had finally been filled by a former member of the Royal Navy, Commander James Bond. Although still relatively new, the Agent had gone on several assignments already and been very successful at them. For that M was very relieved as he was helping shoulder the weight that would also have been carried by 006 and 008.

But at least part of that burden was going to be relieved as the agency had finally located and hired a new 00 agent to fill 008's missing slot. And since this new agent would also be relatively inexperienced as Bond was, that they might find some common ground with that. They'd better have some common ground since they'd be sharing the same office area together along with 006 once the agency filled that spot as well.

"Here we are," said M leading the new agent to the shared main office space that then branched off into the three individual offices for the 00 agents. As he entered, he noticed 007 sitting at his desk in the main area. When M had first shown Bond to his individual office in the back and informed the agent that the plan was to eventually hire a secretary to work in the main area, he had been surprised to find days later that Bond had pushed his desk into the main area and set up shop there.

When he had asked why, the agent had merely replied that it meant less time in coming to speak with him about important matters and that he was still using the office to store his things. M wondered if that response was legitimate or not, but as long as Bond remained productive, it wasn't his place to say otherwise. Ordering a new agent into his office for no real reason would likely be a source of strain between the two and M didn't want to see that happen over such a trivial matter and so the arrangement had continued.

How it would continue now that a newcomer would also be in the same general area was one M was interested in finding out.

"Sir is something the matter?" asked Bond concerned at this unexpected appearance of his boss. M shook his head and held up a disarming hand to calm the young agent.

"No, 007, in fact I have good news. We've finally hired a new agent to help fill this empty office space," he said pleased. "007, I'd like you to meet 008."

"Yes sir I'd be glad to meet hi-," began Bond and then he saw the young woman standing next to the head of MI6 and was briefly left speechless. It was not the appearance of the blonde-haired Caucasian young woman who was certainly attractive looking to anyone's eye, but rather that she was female.

"We are an equal opportunity employment agency," said M with a smile and then he turned to the new agent. "I trust there are no hard feelings."

The female agent shook her head to Bond's slight relief; after all, if she was to survive in this agency, she'd have to have thick skin. "No offense taken. I wouldn't have expected a female 00 in this organization either and yet here I am."

"And you are not the first female 00 or likely the last either," said M clapping his hands together. "Well I'd stay and continue introductions but I do have an organization to run and I can't stay for chitchat. You two can introduce yourselves on your own and 008 you can get acquainted with your new workspace. In the next few days we'll have a training regimen for you and various other orientations. Ms. Moneypenny will give you the details when they're finalized. Well, have fun you two because you'll certainly be seeing more of each other in the days to come."

And with that M was gone leaving the two 00 agents staring awkwardly at each other…and then 007 made the first move.

"Bond, James Bond," the agent introduced himself and offered a hand as 008 shifted her box of things in her hands and grasped it.

"Samantha Stone," the female agent replied as she looked around at the main area and that Bond's desk was out here.

"I suppose you're not the secretary as well," Stone commented lightly. Bond shook his head but otherwise offered no response to her statement as he wondered how this turn of events would change things for him in this office. He certainly believed in equality of the sexes, but to see this, a female Double O, with his very own eyes still came as a bit of a shock.

"So why out here?" asked 008 nodding her head at Bond's desk. Bond shrugged.

"No point sitting in a drab old office all day," he answered. 008 nodded her head and then looked around the room once more. Bond half-expected her to retreat to her office and not come back out for the rest of the day.

"You don't mind if I join you out here do you?" she asked with a question that surprised Bond.

"Might I ask why?" Bond inquired, genuinely curious. This time Stone shrugged lightly.

"I tend not to trust any location without an immediate escape route," she told her coworker. "Being in that office would mean one more room to go through in case something goes wrong. While I don't expect that to happen here, I'd rather not take that chance."

That answer really surprised Bond as that too was one of the main reasons he had moved his desk out here. Perhaps there was some element of commonality between the two agents.

"I'll just be a minute," said Stone heading for her office.

"Do you need assistance?" called out Bond after her as the agent entered into her room.

"No, but thank you for the offer," the female agent responded. And then the sound of wood scrapping against floor could be heard as 008 slowly pushed her desk out into the main area and set her things on it. A moment later and she had retrieved her chair and then set about putting her things away.

Without knowing what else to say and being unable to assist her, Bond simply sat down in silence and continued working and this silence permeated the rest of the day between the two agents. Neither knew much about the other as personal lives were rarely a topic of the day in their line of work and so they simply didn't know how to properly handle one another. They managed to exchange the occasional greeting and each answered the occasional question from the other but that was the extent of their interactions.

This general silence continued even to the point where 008 was assigned her first solo mission. To Bond's relief, after all good agents were hard to find, she returned from it unharmed and successful but aside from a brief congratulations from him that was it. It was this continued silence and seeming awkwardness between the two agents that forced M to intervene after the latest round of psych evaluations had expressed concern.

"Now listen up you two," said M reluctantly playing the part of parent to the two agents and not happy about it. "This agency is made up of many parts that while mainly operating independently also have to function as a cohesive unit. While I have yet to assign a mission that involves the two of you together, I may have to do so someday. If you two approach that mission as you are now, it may very well end in failure and I will not allow that. You two must be more communicative with each other or else I will take more drastic measures. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," the two agents responded in unison as M nodded his head and then left. Both 00s knew M hadn't entirely come here of his own free will, but if he really didn't feel it was an issue then he wouldn't have come at all. But again the two agents didn't know what to do and so all they could do was sit in silence once more.

And then both looked at each other straight in the eyes as if for the first time and seemed to truly study each other and as if an invisible light switched on in their minds, both suddenly had an idea what to do. Whether it would work would be another matter.

"I was thinking about getting something to drink would you like something?" asked 008 curious. Bond wasn't sure where this was leading but he was willing to be game. Her leaving the room was integral to his plan.

"A can of cola would be nice," he agreed amicably and 008 nodded and left the room. As soon as she was gone, 007 stood up and headed over to her desk with a screwdriver in hand.

Shortly thereafter, Stone returned with the drinks and handed one to Bond who willingly accepted it.

"To the future," said Stone in a kind of toast. Bond tipped his can at her.

"To the future," he agreed and then opened it only to have it spray all over him leaving him dripping wet.

"What the-?" he asked slightly annoyed. 008 tried to repress a grin at his predicament.

"Sorry, James, I assumed you liked your soda like you like your martinis, shaken not stirred," the agent replied a little bemused. Bond wiped his face off with a towel and gave her an angry scowl.

"Just sit down," he ordered. Stone sighed inwardly; she'd tried at least in the only way she knew how. But it hadn't worked as Bond apparently had no sense of humor like she thought he might have and it had backfired. What would happen now was anyone's guess but M wouldn't be very happy.

And so 008 unhappily sat in her seat behind her desk…only to briefly cry out moments later as her chair collapsed from under her and she found herself unceremoniously dumped to the floor.

"What the-?" she commented confused in a fashion identical to Bond. From his desk, Bond briefly stood up and looked down at her.

"I always suspected you had a few screws loose," he commented wryly as he produced his screwdriver and tipped it at her. 008 looked at 007 with a mild state of shock as 007 regarded her with curiosity. And then both finally realized the position they were in and soon smiles splayed across their faces and then both broke out into genuine laughter.

M just happened to be walking past their office space again when he poked his head in at the new noise coming from the room. He could then only stare at having one of his agents covered in soda and the other in a heap on the floor. Shaking his head lightly to himself, the head of MI6 continued on unnoticed by the two laughing individuals and continued on his way, at least a little grateful that the two had finally managed to break the ice between them.

Present Day: "Of course if I'd known how that friendship would impact this organization, I wonder if I wouldn't be happier had they always been awkwardly silent around the other," M concluded ruefully.


	2. Chapter 2

Nobody was sure where the worn brown leather couch in James Bond and Samantha Stone's 'office' came from. After the first joint mission that 007 and 008 had been assigned on, it had just shown up. Neither agent would admit to where it came from or how it had been brought into the premises without anyone being aware of it. But both were fiercely territorial when anyone occupied it who wasn't one of them or 006, Alec Trevelyan, and a good friend to both of them. Not that he ever sat on the thing, though.

The two mainly used the couch to relax after a hard day's work or reviewing the paperwork for a mission they had recently completed. It was the former that brought Bond into the main hub one day having just finished up a long mission overseas and M demanding he turn in a preliminary report that day. Bond knew the importance of turning in the details while they were still fresh in his mind, but he needed to rest a moment and that was what the couch was for.

…Or normally would have been for had he not walked in and saw Samantha Stone lying across the entirety of it fast asleep. Bond stared at her tiredly and wondered whether he should make her get up before deciding that was selfish of him. After all, Stone had to have known he was coming back that day and if she chose to lie across the couch then she would've known she was taking her chances.

And so Bond put his briefcase on the coffee table in front of the desk, walked over to the couch, and subsequently sat on Stone's stomach. Stone shifted slightly but otherwise didn't wake up to Bond's slight surprise. But he figured she'd wake up eventually and so he popped open his briefcase and went to work compiling his notes on the case. He had been working on it for several moments and Stone still hadn't woken up and yet and Bond was beginning to get a little concerned. He was concerned mainly because he wondered if she was secretly up to something.

But she hadn't moved or done anything since he'd sat down and so he ignored it and continued working. And as time continued, he began feeling warmer and warmer. Figuring it was the heat, he took off his jacket and tie and continued working but still the heat continued. It was beginning to become more and more unbearable and Bond couldn't discern the cause of it. And then finally his posterior flared up with heat and while avoiding a cry of pain, he immediately stood up patting down his posterior.

Instantly laughter greeted him from the Double-O agent behind him and he turned around to see 008 sitting up on the couch grinning at him.

"Everyone said you had a hot arse, now I know it too," said Stone with a giant grin as she pulled up part of her shirt revealing a heating pad underneath that she had apparently rigged to heat up when sat on.

"Ooh, I'll get you for this," Bond swore as he pointed at her while still in pain. Stone nodded her head still amused as she removed the heating pad and put in back in its container and then lay back down on the couch.

"I'm sure you will, I'm sure you will," said Stone lightly, pleased that everything had gone off without a hitch. And then M stuck in his head in the doorway.

"You two!" he snapped at them. "007 get that report done right away and quit standing around. And 008 quit lying on that couch and get some work done!"

And then he was gone from the room leaving the two agents by themselves. Stone simply returned to her desk and Bond gathered his things to return to his only he had to wince as he sat down. He muttered something about revenge and then continued compiling his report.

"There it is!" shouted a voice from the outside that caused both of them to jump, startled. Q marched into the office and retrieved the heating pad and stopped in front of 008's desk.

"Don't take experimental devices from Q-Branch without asking!" Q admonished the female agent and then stomped off. Bond watched him go and then took one look at Stone who gave him an embarrassed grin before Bond's head slumped forward and rested on the desk defeated.

And then the door to one of the offices opened and Alec Trevelyan walked out and looked at both of them dimly.

"I need a new office,"

A/N: This chapter was really only to set up why there was a couch in the office which will likely be referred to in future chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

006, 007, 008. Alec Trevelyan, James Bond, Samantha Stone. Three of the best agents MI6 ever had. When a mission absolutely needed to be done and the job was too big for one agent alone, it was merely a matter of assigning two or all three of them on it and it would get done. Their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other in a way that allowed them to work seamlessly as partners in whatever operation MI6 put them up to.

It also helped that they were also all three good friends both on and off the job. Bond and Trevelyan were practically like brothers having had similar backgrounds both personal and professional. Stone and Bond were like brother and sister from their shared experiences working at MI6. Stone and Trevelyan were not as close as the female 00 was with Bond, but they still maintained a friendly relationship with the other.

All three were known around the office, informally of course, as the Three Amigos; the Three Caballeros; or on a particularly crazy day, the Three Stooges. And they were the team and everyone knew they always would be.

And so when the call came in about a secret chemical weapons facility located in Arkhangelsk, M was hardly concerned about the outcome when he assigned 006, 007, and 008 to investigate the situation and take care of it.

Samantha Stone initially infiltrated the area acting as a secretarial liaison from the Soviet government. She collected the necessary information that proved the nearby dam was making chemical weapons and obtained detailed schematics of the dam and where the chemicals were being stored. At one point she had even made it into the facility itself and while she had gotten nowhere near the chemical storage tanks, her continued intelligence helped to further shed light on the facility, its complement of soldiers, and other small assorted detail necessary for the infiltration and destruction of the contents within.

The initial plan devised by the three Double Os was for 008 to be at the facility when 006 and 007 infiltrated it and then meet up with them in a storage room and then all three would go and blow up the chemical storage tanks. But a couple of days before the plan was to go into motion 008 was waylaid by an enemy few secret agents could come into contact with and triumph over…a cold. Although Stone insisted she could still complete the mission, it was clear she was in no condition for a stealth mission or to go into combat and hope to come out in one piece. Bond and Trevelyan could accomplish the mission together without her assistance. And so she reluctantly returned to England but promised to keep the drinks cold until they got back.

When 006 didn't return from Arkhangelsk, it sent a shockwave through the entire department. Though it seemed to be impossible in a working atmosphere that in some ways regarded the outside world with fear and paranoia, complacency had set in. 00s were the best agents in the entire world, but even they didn't always return from missions, even those considered part of the best of the best as was the case with 006. It was a sobering reminder to everyone about the line of work they were all involved in at MI6.

Not that that stopped 007 and 008 from feeling what happened to 006 was in some way their fault. 008 blamed herself for there being some flaw in the plan that she had overlooked and that she had gotten sick and not insisted more forcefully to accompany the two Double Os into the facility. 007 blamed himself for not watching out more for 006 and providing the backup he had needed to and for not shooting General Arkady Orumov when he had the chance. Perhaps Trevelyan wouldn't have survived regardless, but at least he would've done something rather than just flee the facility.

But when both really thought about what had happened deep down they knew the real truth. They couldn't have done anything to save Alec Trevelyan. What had happened had happened and nothing either agent could've done would have changed that fact. That didn't stop them from hurting on the inside, but it helped them from not slipping completely into despair.

M for his part kept a watchful eye on them but otherwise prevented the psychiatrists from asking questions about the events of Arkhangelsk. He had made sure his agents were trained to minimize the effects the outside world would have on them and their work.

For the most part it worked, but 007 grew noticeably colder and took a much more clinical approach to his work where assassination was the order of the day rather than even attempting to bring in his marks. It also hadn't helped when shortly after the events of Arkhangelsk, the Soviet KGB policy of _Smert Spionam_, or 'Death to Spies' had started up again under the watchful eye of a man whom Bond had risked life and limb to defect from the Soviet Union to England only to later discover it was all a ruse. Bond had lost several good colleagues thanks to the ensuing events and he had nearly killed an innocent Russian general without a second thought as a form of cold blooded revenge. Only his training engrained in his every action had prevented him from causing World War III and he had returned from the entire ordeal a little bit better off thanks to his encounters with a Russian Cellist.

But it was not to be. While seemingly back to his original self before 006's death thanks to the wedding of his good friend from the United States' Central Intelligence Agency, Felix Leiter, in the immediate aftermath it had all come undone when Leiter was nearly killed by an Isthmus Drug Lord in revenge. Leiter was a closer friend to Bond than 006 and 008 and his near death had caused Bond to finally fly off the handle. M had tried to rein him in to no avail as when confronted, Bond had resigned his commission and really gone rogue, a situation that terrified M more than anything else in the world.

After Bond had vanished into Key West, M had immediately ordered Samantha Stone to Istanbul, Turkey to go on the mission 007 should've been on. He did this for three reasons. One was to make sure the mission was accomplished as any mission MI6 assigned was vitally important to her Majesty's government. The second was that M knew that if not given an assignment and knowing Bond was no longer with MI6, Stone would likely go rogue as well and out of loyalty, join up with Bond. Having one rogue Double O was enough of a disaster, but two was unthinkable.

The third and most important reason involved his concerns for Samantha Stone. Whereas 007 had grown colder since Alec Trevelyan's death, 008 had in some ways grown more suicidal. She increasingly took on more and more dangerous missions solo and the results had nearly gotten her killed on multiple occasions. She refused any and all help from any Double O besides Bond and M wasn't going to risk pairing the two of them together on an assignment lest he be called before the Prime Minister to explain whatever ended up happening when they were through with it.

But the Istanbul assignment was of much lighter fare than Stone's more recent assignments and M hoped it would act as a chance for her to come to her senses before she did end up getting killed in the line of duty. He also hoped that this situation with Bond would end being an emotional catharsis for the agent and realize that the path he was headed down was also going to lead him to nothing good.

To his intense relief, the gamble paid off. Both Double Os returned from their situations in better spirits than they had been in awhile. M brought 007 back into the fold with the promise that he would never pull a stunt like quitting the service again. He also had a talk with 008 and said that if she promised to take things easier, she would only have to return a preliminary report on Istanbul to which she had readily agreed. He also recommended that they would handle 006's passing with more grace and dignity but deigned on giving any details, knowing they would handle it in their own way.

…The next anniversary of Alec Trevelyan's death, M found 007 and 008 passed out on their desks having drunk six bottles of vodka. M shook his head in dismay at Bond and Stone's recklessness but let it be as it was at least less dangerous to the outside world. And for every year thereafter they drank six bottles of vodka to commemorate their friend.

When the new female M took over MI6, she was warned of this particular anniversary. In her opinion, it was a waste of time and resources to lose two agents for a single day to alcoholism because they couldn't get past the loss of a comrade. They'd lost plenty of others since they'd first starting working at the Agency and there should be no reason to treat Trevelyan any differently.

She'd meant to tell them that when she could get the two of them together, but shortly after taking her new post, James Bond had been assigned to discover what had become of a missing French helicopter, which lead to a defunct Soviet project codenamed "Goldeneye". From there it led to a criminal organization called Janus and the revelation that Alec Trevelyan hadn't died at Arkhangelsk like original thought, but had survived and launched that organization which was dedicated to bringing about the downfall of the British Government.

006's survival sent shockwaves through the department as it had when they'd first thought he was dead. That he was now working against the agency he had dutifully served was the talk around the water cooler, especially for those who had been around when 006 still worked for MI6. But for the two whom M figured would have the most to say, Bond and Stone never spoke about the matter. Bond simply concluded his report that he had eliminated Trevelyan and saved Britain from a financial meltdown. Stone meanwhile had been on assignment during the whole affair and when told of Trevelyan's survival, had met the news with seeming indifference.

And while not a gossip nor particularly interested in knowing about such things, M came to the conclusion that 007 and 008 never once spoke to each other about the events surrounding Goldeneye and Trevelyan's actions surrounding faking his own death. In fact, when the next anniversary rolled around for the Arkhangelsk mission, Bond and Stone had treated it like any other day and performed their work as usual.

Months prior, M would've felt relieved that the two had finally gotten back to business. But after having gotten to know the two Double Os in the interim, she was now a little disconcerted. She had first assumed that any Double O still with MI6 since the Cold War was a relic of that bygone era. Bond especially and Stone slightly less so. But she'd been wrong in her assessment. In a changing world, the agents had done what they did best, they adapted. But they still clung proudly to their past. 007 still had his flirtatious relationship with Moneypenny, 008 still caused chaos on a regular basis inside MI6, and both Double Os were still fiercely loyal to each other and the agency they served.

And so this sudden break from tradition came as a surprise. Regardless of the things 006 had done, M still suspected that the two agents still clung to their friendship with the man. The head of MI6 would never voice her concerns aloud, but she was a little curious what would become of the anniversary of Arkhangelsk in the future.

…The following year, both Double Os landed in the hospital for alcohol poisoning having drunk twelve bottles of vodka. M gave them a stern dressing down for that course of action and told them to never do it again. Both swore that it was the last time they would ever do that again; it was just a final hurrah for their old friend. With no other alternative beyond drumming them out of the service, M had accepted that statement and never mentioned it to the two for the following year when the next anniversary approached.

The day that anniversary came, M deliberately stuck around after hours to see that the two agents would do. After several hours passed, she heard laughter drifting along the hallways towards her office through her open door. Investigating, she was unsurprised when the laughter led her to Bond and Stone's shared office. Rather than try and sneak a glance into the office, she marched right in and found 007 and 008 behind their desks, each with a single vodka bottle and six shot glasses in front of them.

"Oh, hello ma'am," said Bond wiping a tear from his face as he held back some laughter. "We were just recalling some stories about 006. You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

"No, but thank you," M responded graciously. "I just came to say that I am leaving for the day."

The two Double Os nodded knowing fully well the reason their boss was still here, but willing to accept it nonetheless.

"I was just mentioning to James that I once booby trapped the couch to figure out whether or not Alec ever used it when we weren't around. Needless to say, he did," said Stone with a mild grin even though she deigned to comment what had happened. M nodded her head, silently grateful that the two agents finally felt comfortable enough around her to reveal a personal detail like that.

"Well, goodnight ma'am," said Bond tipping his head at her. M gave her goodbyes and left as Bond began telling a story about a mission he and Trevelyan had gone on that ended in a pie fight to which Stone began laughing hard at.

M meanwhile continued her departure from the building confident that the two agents had finally put to rest one of the ghosts of their past.


	4. Chapter 4

Moscow, Russia, Late 1990s: James Bond was once again freezing to death as CIA Agent Jack Wade's ever dependable ZAZ-965 was broken down on the side of the road. As this was the second time it had happened with this vehicle in as many times as Bond had met the agent in Russia, Bond was silently wondering if it would become a recurring issue and silently prayed that it wouldn't.

"Yo, Jimbo, pass me the hammer," ordered Wade working on the engine in the rear of the vehicle. Bond briefly reached for a regular hammer before common sense set in and he handed Wade the sledgehammer who eagerly accepted it.

"Nice to see you stuffy Brits can change after all," said Wade with a big smile as he chewed on some gum and went back to work on the engine. Bond avoided giving an annoyed reaction to that comment by pulling his coat in closer and instead focusing on the vehicle and pedestrian traffic passing by them on both side, none bothering to give them a second glance.

It was a curious thing that had fallen over the country since the fall of the USSR. That people were out and about on the street without seeming much fear that the government would come cracking down on them felt strange to the Double O having been here many times before the Iron Curtain fell. But at the same time the place still seemed cold and less cheerful to him compared to back home in London and he wondered how Russia would cope over the next several years as it tried to rejoin the outside world that in some ways had seemingly passed it by.

Bond was so lost in his reverie that he barely noticed a pair of boots crunching the snow behind him…but then he immediately tensed up as he felt the barrel of a handgun press firmly against his back.

"Do not bother crying out for help because no one can save you now that you are back in Mother Russia, Comrade Bond," said the female voice with a thick Russian accent. Wade was still working on the engine oblivious to the conversation and instead of realizing what was going on, the American mentioned needing to get something from the gas station down the street and walked off.

"Americans, incompetent to the end," commented the mysterious figure behind Bond.

"Agreed," Bond said despite the situation before he stiffened as the gun dug further into his back.

"You will not speak unless spoken too," the female voice continued. "I must confess to having waited for this day for some time. Russia was once the jewel of the world over that everyone looked up to. The KGB ruled the country with an iron fist whenever someone got out of line and it made this land pure! But you are the reason my glorious country has fallen so far from its pedestal and is now a land of freedom and it disgusts me!"

"Nothing lasts forever," Bond quipped despite being told to keep quiet while formulating a plan to escape his predicament.

"And you are right about that," the voice said from behind him. "Like right now. With KGB gone, you are now soft…and weak. Never would I have been able to sneak up on you like this. 007 best MI-6 agent? Ha!"

"And who would be the best agent then?" Bond asked curious. The person behind him had to think about that for a moment.

"That one woman Double O," the voice said after a few moments. "Yes, that 00...8. She is a real agent who would never make foolish mistakes like you."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Bond immediately disagreed.

"What do you mean?" demanded the voice. Bond shrugged knowing the action might cause the gun to go off.

"Well for one thing, that with as much experience as I have with guns pointed at my back that I'd recognize the barrel of a P99," Bond pointed out lightly as the gun shifted uneasily behind him. "That and I bought Samantha Stone a pair of boots this past Christmas that she really wanted and because she wears them so much I'd recognize their sound in the snow…a sound like yours just made. And these are boots that haven't been introduced commercially in Russia yet."

"I…but…she…and…," the voice behind him began blustering as the gun dropped from his back as the voice finally let out one exasperated word in a British accent. "Damn."

Bond broke out into a very amused smile at that and turned around and gave Samantha Stone a friendly hug.

"Hello Sam, it's good to see you," said Bond affably. Stone scowled briefly as she put her gun away.

"Hi James, I thought for sure I would've gotten you this time," the female agent remarked. Bond shrugged lightly.

"Well if it hadn't been you, it would've made for an interesting turn of events," he had to admit. Stone did briefly brighten up at that.

"Besides, M told me you were finishing up an assignment here so I figured you might turn up sooner or later," Bond finished revealing. "How did that go?"

"The usual," said Stone nonchalantly as she put her gun away. "I was nearly done anyway but when I heard you were in town I quickly tied up some loose ends and here I am."

Bond nodded his head as he wondered when Wade would be back so he could start _his_ mission.

"So what brings you out this way?" asked Stone curious. Bond shrugged.

"Universal Exports suspect mayhem from the former industrial espionage unit of the local growers union here," he mentioned in code.

"Ah," said 008 immediately understanding the reference to former members of the KGB apparently causing trouble. "Like old times."

"Unfortunately," said 007 as he looked around at his cold surroundings. "But they used to pick more exotic locales than this for their efforts."

Stone snorted at that before she shivered in her warm winter coat. "You're telling me. Since the wall fell I've spent more time in these former territories than I ever did prior."

Bond nodded. "This your first trip to Moscow?"

Stone shook her head. "I was here a couple years back to clean up some loose elements from Alec's old organization."

"Ah," said Bond now remembering that assignment. But before he could say anything else, the noise of a throat being cleared was heard behind him. Bond turned to see Wade with a gleeful expression on his face.

"You, uh, want to introduce me to your cute friend, Jimmy?" asked Wade hopeful. Bond barely avoided being visibly taken aback by that statement but he stopped himself in time.

"Jack Wade meet Samantha Stone," Bond introduced. "If I'm the seventh operator of Universal Exports then she's the eighth. And Sam, he's…American."

"Ah," said Wade with a smile before realization hit him and his expression dropped. "Ma'am," he acknowledged with a tip of his head.

Stone gave him a friendly smile as she advanced towards him for a hug. "We're all friends here."

Wade really brightened up at that as he moved to accept the gesture as Bond wondered where this was leading. Wade for his part was about to embrace Stone when he felt something stopping him from completing the gesture. He looked down to see Stone's P99 pointing at his stomach. He looked at it confused before looking at Stone's face and seeing she was all business.

"You've got to the count of ten to show me the rose or you'll never see home again," she declared. Wade looked at her confused.

"The…rose?" he asked confused as his mind was still on the gun at his stomach and the abrupt change in 008's tone.

"One," began the female Double O and kept counting. Wade looked at her even more bewildered before the realization of what 'rose' she was referring to occurred to him.

"Oh, you can't be serious!" he shouted.

"I am!" Stone responded with deadly seriousness. "Three."

"How do you even know about that?" continued Wade completely embarrassed.

"I may have told her," Bond admitted trying to cover up a grin with his hand. Wade snapped his attention at him as Stone was now at five.

"Then tell her that I am who I am and get me out of this," Wade pleaded.

"No good, he could've been compromised," Stone butted in. "Six."

"We've only been here a half hour!" Wade pointed out. "You don't think I could've cracked him that easily do you?"

"Anything's possible and I can't afford to take chances in my line of work," Stone told the CIA Agent. "Eight."

"Jimmy!" Wade pleaded one last time. Bond gave him a confused look.

"You'd better show her the rose because she's got the same license I do and she's not afraid of using it," Bond recommended. Wade looked at the two Double Os desperately as the color drained from his face.

"Nine!" said Stone loudly. Wade knew he had no choice.

"Fine," he said humiliated. "Just step back for a moment."

008 took a step back but still kept the gun closely trained on him. "You try anything and I won't hesitate to contribute to your daily helping of lead," Stone warned. Wade scowled.

"You're going to wish I hadn't shown you this," he warned as he reached for his belt, undid it, and then show Stone the rose.

"There, happy?" demanded Wade desperate for the whole thing to be over. Stone looked at the rose and then nodded her head as she put her gun away.

"Quite," she declared and then returned her attention to Bond like the previous event hadn't happened as Wade returned to the engine grumbling about how if the CIA wasn't making him keep the tattoo for ID purposes that he'd have gotten rid of it years ago.

"I don't suppose you're busy right now are you?" the male secret agent asked.

"My flight leaves in three hours so I've got some time to ki…I mean, waste," said 008 sheepishly at her unintentional pun. Bond nodded pleased as Wade finally got the engine started and the trio entered into the car and it drove off down the road once more.

Time passed…

Bond found himself sitting across from a Russian mob boss who was behind his desk and regarding Bond's P99 as Bond sat on the other side of the desk with bodyguards on each side of him. Bond had spoken briefly with Valentin Dimtirovich Zukovsky about his little situation and the connoisseur of caviar had directed him here. The mob boss had unsurprisingly had Bond frisked and his weapon taken from him and that was how Bond found himself in the mob boss's office which was a large room with a fireplace, mahogany floors, various tapestries, and one large segmented plate glass window facing the outside.

"So Mr. Bond," began the mobster unimpressed. "You come into my place of work asking questions whose answers have left many men dead and your only plan to get me to tell you those answers was with this?"

The mobster placed Bond's gun on the desk and laughed heartily as his men did the same.

"Not entirely," Bond admitted nonchalantly. The mobster regarded the agent curiously.

"Then what?" the overweight man had to ask as he lit his cigar. Bond tapped the armrest of his chair with his pointer finger and middle finger in three rapid movements.

PLINK…CRACK

The mobster and his men looked around concerned before the mob boss spotted a small pit in the window with small cracks edging out from it.

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the mobster, with his henchmen following suit, clearly amused as he turned to Bond. "What was that supposed to do? Prove to me that my bulletproof glass works as promised?"

Bond gave a smile as if sharing in the joke. "Actually, no," said Bond amicably before turning deadly serious. "The first shot was a warning; the second shot is coming through the window."

The mobster's laughter slowly died down as he slowly began thinking about what had been said. The mobster then reached for his radio as Bond held up a cautioning hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Whoever you had out there patrolling are either dead or unconscious and whoever you send out there will be dead very shortly."

PLINK…PLINK

As if to emphasize the point two shots smacked into the glass on the other side of the two henchmen closest to the window. Both would've been perfect headshots if they'd made it through.

"Now are you going to tell me what I need to know or am I going to have to go to one of your associates?" asked Bond curious as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face.

On a nearby rooftop, Samantha Stone lay flat on the ground with her sniper rifle pointed at the mobster's window as three incapacitated guards lay nearby. She pulled out her magazine of standard rounds and then slapped in a new magazine of steel tipped bullets that could tear through nearly anything including the window across the way. The Double O then cocked back the loading mechanism of the gun and the new round slipped into place as Stone trained the gun on the mobster's head waiting for any signal from Bond to fire.

The mobster for his part turned completely white at this turn of events.

Later, Moscow International Airport: Wade's car was pulled alongside the curb as Bond helped pull out Stone's luggage and place it on the curb next to her.

"Thanks for letting me help out James, it's been too long since we've been a mission together," Stone commented. "Not since the Cold War by my count."

"Well there was that thing in Bermuda," Bond commented with a wry grin as Stone laughed at that being brought up.

"I don't count that as a mission. I know the old M didn't," 008 remarked before leaning down to the side of the car to see Jack Wade who wasn't entirely happy to see her again.

"Bye Wade, if it's any consolation, if you hadn't shown it to me, I would've shot you," Stone told him.

"Yeah, yeah, I bet you say that to all the guys," Wade muttered. Stone gave him a reassuring pat on the back and then stood back up and gave Bond a goodbye hug.

"Thanks again for the boots," said Stone appreciatively.

"And thank you for the coat," said Bond as he pulled Stone's previous Christmas present to him closer to his body. It didn't completely block out the Russian cold, no coat could in Bond's estimate, but it always helped considerably wherever he went.

"See you back in England," said Stone as she grabbed a hold of the handle of her luggage and headed into the airport. Bond watched her go and then got in the car as Wade started it up without a word.

"You're awfully quiet now, Jack," Bond commented with a small smile on his face. Wade glowered at that statement.

"Is something the matter?" Bond prodded while feigning innocence. Wade's jaw clenched at that.

"You know you can tell me anything," Bond further teased.

"You saw how she treated me!" Wade exploded. "We're friends Jimmy, how could you let her embarrass me like that?"

Bond eyed the older American appraisingly. "I honestly didn't think what she did to you was that bad," he confessed.

"How can you possibly say that?" said Wade not entirely disbelieving him but curious what made Bond tell him that.

"Simple," said 007 as he returned his attention to the road and the mission ahead. "You weren't there when she first met Felix Leiter."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This takes places shortly after On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I also renamed this entire story because I was never very happy with the original title.

Tracy is dead.

I should have saved her.

Why couldn't I save her?

But I didn't…

And now she's gone.

What do I do now?

Thoughts such as these echoed through the mind of MI6 secret agent James Bond as he sat alone in his office in the middle of the night with the lights turned down and a half empty bottle of vodka sitting on his desk that he had been casually drinking. His thoughts were a mixture of emotions the Double O didn't even know he'd had until he'd met Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo that one fateful day. They'd had a whirlwind romance while Bond was hunting down the remains of SPECTRE and Bond had been so taken by her that for once in his life he found himself wanting to spend his rest of his life with her and Tracy felt the same about him.

And so he'd done something he never thought he would and proposed to her. They'd then been married and it was one of the happiest moments in Bond's life. And then she'd been killed shortly after the ceremony before they'd even had a chance for the honeymoon. …Killed in a cowardly act by a man 007 thought dead who deliberately chose his moment to strike so Bond could not respond in kind or even save his beloved wife. And with that, a new thought came to the forefront of Bond's mind.

We have all the time in the…

CLICK

Bond's reverie was instantly shattered as the lights abruptly came on in the room, startling him. The 00 Agent looked over to the doorway to see Samantha Stone, MI6's Agent 008, stumble into the room half-asleep while dragging her rolling luggage behind her, evidently having just returned from a mission. The Double O stumbled across the room to her desk, apparently oblivious to the other person in the room, and pulled a dossier from her satchel and unceremoniously tossed it onto her desk. Stone then yawned heavily and stretched her arms before flapping her lips together and then turned to the exit to leave.

"Evening, James," she acknowledged tiredly as she continued towards the door. Bond watched her go curious how long it would take her to fully realize what she had just said. The female agent took five more steps towards the exit and then abruptly froze in her tracks.

…

"Hello, James," she said this time, fully aware of her surroundings. Bond had no doubt that even in her half-asleep state she could still instinctually take out anything that tried to cause trouble.

"Sam," Bond acknowledged back with a small tip of his head. The Double O sighed, turned around, and sat on her luggage and looked at the other agent and studied him for several moments. Bond for his part didn't shy away from the attention as it finally let him focus on something other than his despair. After a few moments of silence, Stone finally leaned forward and rested her head on her hands.

"I'm sorry I never got to chance to meet her," Stone admitted. Bond nodded his head. No apologies for what had happened, no asking how Bond felt, nothing because Double Os knew better than to voice such things aloud to each other. Alec Trevelyan hadn't really said anything either when he'd also walked in on the despondent Bond. He'd merely taken Bond's PPK and gave it a thorough cleaning and servicing before returning the gun to his desk and saying something under his breath about how when you're out for revenge you don't want anything spoiling the moment before he left. The gun was still sitting on his desk untouched.

"She was one in a million," Bond admitted with a faint smile as he thought about his wife and the joy she'd brought to his life. Stone nodded her head. Even on assignment she'd still kept informed about where things were with SPECTRE and heard about the Contessa as well. Bond had hoped Stone would've been back in time for the wedding to meet her but whatever assignment Stone had been on, it wasn't to be. Another memory Bond would never have.

"How was your assignment to the States?" asked Bond at least curious about her assignment, his professionalism overriding his personal issues at the moment. Stone gave a snort at that.

"A bust," she admitted yawning again into her hand. "Intelligence really overestimated what the group I ended up infiltrating as an accountant was capable of for destabilizing the United States government. In the end I just took all their accounting statements and reported them to the United States' Internal Revenue Service and that was that."

Bond nodded his head and Stone stood back up.

"Well, I'd better get to back to my flat and get some sleep," Stone admitted. "I'll see you later, James."

Bond nodded his head but otherwise said nothing as he lazily rotated his bottle in his hand. Stone paused and watched him do it before noticing the glazed over look in his eyes. She then sighed heavily at that.

"Shit," she said softly to herself and rubbed her face vigorously to try and get some energy back into her. Bond nearly cracked a small grin at her statement as Stone had always been one to result to colorful language when tired or annoyed where as he rarely used such terms.

"Okay, James, I have something very important to say," she told her friend. Bond looked over at her wondering what shape could possibly have to say that would make him feel any less worse about Tracy's death. His inner voice told him nothing and he tried to chide himself for thinking that but found in his current state that he couldn't.

"I've never told you much about my past have I?" asked Stone out of the blue. That caught Bond's attention as he hadn't been expecting her to bring up that topic for conversation. The past wasn't something many Double Os chose to dwell on given the nature of their profession and the things they had to do that were 'For Their Eyes Only' for Queen and Country.

"I mean, you know the basics of my professional background before I came to MI6 just like I know yours and Alec's," Stone continued. "And you also know that like you and Alec, I also grew up as an orphan."

Bond nodded his head silently at that as the three Double Os would, during less busy moments, go to the local pub and waste away the hours until M came to them with an assignment.

"So all three of us know that your parents died during a climbing accident in the Swiss Alps," 008 continued knowing that was a sensitive topic, especially in light of what had just happened to Bond. But being her friend and colleague he was willing to not take offense to it figuring it was important to her story. "And while Alec isn't entirely sure how his parents died, he knows they died sometime shortly after the last great war."

Bond again nodded his head at that as Stone suddenly looked away from him and turned her gaze down at her hands which were sitting on her knees.

"James, what I'm about to tell you is strictly off the record," the female agent said after a few moments of deep concentration. "You can't tell anyone about this, not even Alec. I'll tell him as soon as I get the opportunity, but it has to be from me. I won't let you get into any trouble because of what I'm about to tell you."

Bond continued to be surprised at where this conversation was going and he nodded his head, trying to keep his concentration despite the murkiness caused by the alcohol he'd already consumed.

"The reason I've never spoken much about my past is because in some way it's an embarrassment to M and is also highly classified," said Stone a little bit miffed by that and still further gaining Bond's undivided attention before she laid a giant bombshell on him. "But that's enough rambling so I'll just say it: My parents were both Double O agents at MI6 when I was born."

If Bond had been holding onto the vodka bottle, he was sure he would've dropped it he was that stunned by her revelation. So stunned he completely forgot his sorrows about his wife.

"I know, it's crazy that any agents could get away with having a relationship under M's watchful eye against office interrelations, but it's true," said Stone also at a loss for it. "I didn't know either until M told me shortly after I became 008. Up until that point I had no idea who my real parents were. So before you ask, no I didn't come here to join the family business."

"But you're still an orphan, which would mean…," began Bond still able to use his reasoning capabilities. Stone nodded her head.

"M also told me that both my parents both died on a joint assignment shortly after I was born," Stone answered. "Which he didn't know I existed until after I was hired either so he didn't choose me out of pity or anything like that. They were running the standard blood tests on my blood like with all new recruits and somehow one of their tests came up with that shocker of information."

"So who were your parents?" asked Bond genuinely curious. Stone shrugged.

"I still don't know. M won't tell me and I really have no way of finding out without getting caught," the female Agent replied. "I really know nothing about them. M did tell me he thinks the tests were correct because my mother took a leave of absence from the agency around the time of my birth. But was I planned, was I unplanned? What did my parents think of me for what little time I was alive that they were? Did the care about me or was I just one of those things that happen on a mission that you put behind you and then forget? I don't know.

"Who killed my parents? Are they still alive today? Did I kill them on assignment at some point? I don't know the answers to that either because again M won't tell me. And I also don't know the answer to the most important question of all. Did they love me?" Stone concluded. "I could be upset that I don't know the answers to these questions or I could wallow in self pity and despair about them too, but I don't. I don't know the answers and I probably never will and so I really have no reason to care about finding out the truth.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is…James, if you need a shoulder to cry on I'm probably the last person you should turn to, the same with Alec for that matter. But M, M has had to deal with losing numerous agents over the years. And even though he tries to keep us at a distance, we all know he considers us family. So if anyone knows about dealing with loss and how to live with it, he'd be the one you should talk to…if you want," Stone said, finally saying her peace as she got up and collected her things.

"Thank you," said Bond appreciative that she had revealed that insight into her past. Stone gave him her usual smile.

"Don't mention it," she told him before she stopped once more. "Oh and I probably shouldn't mention this, but even though I was on assignment I did hear about your wedding and I wanted it to be a memorable one even though I couldn't be there. So I briefly hopped back across the pond and…booby trapped your wedding cake."

Bond's eyes widened at that before he thought back to the wedding ceremony which while a pleasant experience had been absent of Stone's shenanigans.

"Except you know me, when I'm really in a rush I tend to skimp on the details and so I sabotaged the wrong cake," said Stone chuckling to her self in mild embarrassment. "Let's just say someone had one hell of a wedding ceremony the other day. Anyway, I'm not saying this to you to lighten the mood just that…I figured you'd want to know."

"I had wondered why you didn't pull anything," Bond agreed as a mild grin finally spread across his face, the first time he'd felt in slightly better spirits since Tracy's passing. Stone nodded her head and then noticed Bond's PPK on his desk. She walked up to it and picked it up in her hands.

"Did Alec clean this?" she asked knowingly. Bond nodded his head in reference to their currently absent friend. Stone hefted the gun in her hand before ejecting the empty magazine and reaching into her bag and pulling out a new one and slapping it in before putting the gun back on the desk.

"I'm sure Alec said something after cleaning this about how you don't want anything spoiling the moment. I only want to say that 'one turn deserves another'," Stone reminded Bond and then tipped her head and yawned heavily this time. "I'll see you tomorrow bright and early. In the meantime, I'll let you sleep on the office couch this one time and won't give you a wake up call you'll never forget."

Bond gave a wider grin this time and waved Stone goodbye as she left the office with her luggage trailing behind her. Bond watched her go before looking at the bottle of vodka and contemplating it for a several moments.

"No, you won't," he said to his departed colleague. Then with one sweep of his hand he pushed the bottle off the desk and into the trashcan nearby. He then grabbed the PPK and held it in his hand. It was his PPK that Alec Trevelyan had cleaned and Samantha Stone had reloaded, both knowing what Bond's only course of action would be in the wake of what had happened even before Bond would openly acknowledge it. He then got up and grabbed his jacket and threw it over his shoulders and left the office.

Tracy was dead.

But unlike Trevelyan and Stone, he knew who was responsible for her death.

He knew what he had to do.

He always had.

Now he had all the time in the world.

A/N: Stone isn't always an easy character to write for because she isn't supposed to be a Mary Sue and she's also not a Bond Girl. So it was a little difficult finding a fine line between her giving Bond advice and not flat out telling Bond to go get revenge(which a Mary Sue or a Bond Girl would say). She's an original character in a land of canon ones and that means she needs a subtler touch in more serious situations like this chapter and not more humorous ones.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: A scene between Daniel Craig's James Bond and that continuity's Samantha Stone. This is after they've already met and know each other.

London: James Bond's Silver Aston-Marton DB5 pulled into the front of a large financial firm and came to a halt.

"What brings you here?" asked Samantha Stone yawning into her hand. Bond had promised to drive her back to her flat but had said he needed to make a stop first on the way.

"I just have to straighten out some financial records," Bond replied without revealing anything. Unfortunately between the two, subtext was something both could easily recognize when the other said something discreet.

"Hope you don't have to bust any heads to get an answer. These financial institutions are notorious for giving you the runaround," Stone commented. Bond pulled out his PPK and cocked the gun.

"I think I have something they might respond to," 007 informed his companion. "I'll return shortly."

"Can I come in too?" asked 008 hopeful. "I need to make a…withdrawal."

Subtext was easily understood both ways. "Another time," Bond told her as he put his gun back in its holster and opened the door and got out.

"How long will you be gone?" Stone asked.

"A half-hour," Bond figured after consulting his watch.

"Can I at least have the keys so I can listen to the radio?" requested Stone. Bond shot her a dubious glance at handing over the keys to his beloved car.

"Well it's either that or I hotwire it," Stone mentioned offhand with a flick of her wrist. Bond sighed briefly and then tossed the keys to her.

"Just promise that you won't leave the car," he demanded. Stone placed her hand over her heart.

"Secret Agent's honor," she swore as if that really meant anything. Bond narrowed his eyes at her but then turned around and proceeded into the building. Nearby, figures clothed in shadow watched the agent enter the building and then focused their attention on the car as music blared loudly from it.

Later: Bond sat tied to a chair in the top floor with some bruises and cuts having been intercepted before he could question the man that he had come to see. He had then been dragged to the man, the head of the financial institution and trussed up before him. All of this had gone according to one of the many plans Bond had drawn up to get the information he needed.

"Did you really think this would work?" asked the man with the financial plan smugly behind his desk. "That you could just come to me and simply 'ask' about Quantum and that I would tell you? You really are a fool Mr. Bond. Mr. White said as much when he left that little so-called interrogation of yours back in Siena."

Bond inwardly bristled at that comment that had nearly resulted in the death of his boss, M.

"So what was it you expected to gain here?" asked the financier leaning back in his chair.

"I came for the disc you always carry in your jacket lapel," Bond replied with a slight smile that was meant to terrify and not disarm. "The one that has detailed information on Quantum's business dealings in the European territories."

The financier briefly blanched at that revelation of top secret information that Bond should have had no way of knowing. The man's expression then turned beet red with anger as Bond expected it would.

"So tell me, Mr. Bond how were you planning to get it?" demanded the man in a raw tone.

"I have a companion down in front of the building who will come for me if I don't report in," Bond told the man. The financier leaned back at that as his color returned to normal and he began laughing heavily at that along with his hired henchmen.

"If that friend you were referring to was in the Aston Martin, I had intended on my men killing her but as soon as you entered the building she simply drove off. Not much of a friend I would say," the man chuckled, secure in his position of superiority of the Double O.

"I too have something to say," said Bond looking over the man's shoulder and out the large window behind him as he leaned forward over the desk.

"Yes?" asked the man at least a little curious leaning in as well.

"You might want to move away from the window," Bond recommended with a friendly tone. The financier looked at the agent dimly, after all the glass was completely bulletproof, before noticing the wide-eyed expressions of the two henchmen as their jaws slowly dropped in terror. The man then spun around and could barely manage a silent scream before diving out of the way as a silver Aston Marton DB5 came crashing through the window having launched itself off the nearby parking garage of the financial institution.

Bond for his part easily escaped his bonds and elbowed both of the nearby henchmen before quickly standing up and dispatching them both with a blow from his knee. He then watched as the car came to a halt directly in front of him with shards of glass flying off of it to which the agent, completely unphased by all this, walked around the car towards the financier who was laying helplessly on the ground with a large shard of glass piercing his leg. But first he paused by the driver's side door as the window rolled down.

"I don't think this is the drive-through teller window," Stone commented looking around the room from the driver's seat. "In fact I'm not even sure if this place has one for that matter."

"Well if they didn't before, they do have one now," Bond commented drily as he continued towards the financier. Easily warding off the man's flailing of his arms to stop him, the Double O kneeled down and easily retrieved the disc in question and pocketed it.

"Thank you," said Bond amicably before standing back up.

"Aren't you going to dangle me over the edge of the window and demand that I talk?" asked the financier spitting out a piece of blood in disgust at the agent. Bond smiled lightly at the man's attempt to stall for time as security was undoubtedly racing towards the room.

"If I was convinced you knew anything that wasn't on this disc you'd already be there by now," Bond replied. "Anything else you have to say before I go?"

"Yes," said the man with a broken toothed and bloody smile. "She never loved you."

Bond's expression turned to silent fury as he stared at the man for a moment before hitting him hard the butt of his gun knocking him unconscious.

"The masses are right, financiers aren't to be trusted when it comes to telling the truth," Bond quipped as he walked back to the car and Stone.

"Thank you for staying in the vehicle," Bond told the 00 Agent. Stone shrugged lightly at that.

"I figured I owed you at least one moment of truthfulness after that business in Nicaragua you bailed me out of," she commented as Bond consulted his watch.

"And exactly thirty minutes as well, very good," he continued, pleased. Stone chuckled at that.

"Let nobody say we Double Os aren't punctual," she declared before unlocking the door. "And speaking of, we'd better go. We've got about seven minutes before guards storm into this room."

She was about to open the door to get out when Bond held up a hand to stop her.

"Move over," he ordered. Stone looked at him bewildered before scooting over to the passenger seat as Bond got into the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

"And where do you plan on going because we can't exactly go back the way we came," Stone told him as if that should be obvious. Bond nodded his head as he opened the compartment between the seats revealing a number of dials and switches.

"Freight elevator down the hall on the left," he remarked as he pushed down on one of the dials and two hidden rockets flew out of the front grill of the car blowing out part of the far wall. Bond then gunned the engine and the car roared out into the hallway.

"Nice," said Stone approvingly as they raced down the corridor.

At the freight elevator, one male accountant was silently sneaking into it hoping to leave early for the day to go see a football game without being noticed. And thanks to the lead financier having a soundproof office to conduct business, he'd failed to hear anything from that nearby room that might arouse suspicion. And so the doors of the elevator opened and the man hurriedly stepped in least someone see him and ask what he was doing.

He was about to press the button for his floor when a loud boom reverberated down the hallway and was accompanied by the sound of an engine. Looking out fearfully, the man's eyes opened wide just like the henchmen from earlier and the accountant subsequently had to flatten himself against the side of the elevator as an Aston Martin drove in taking up virtually all the space.

"Hello," said a woman from the passenger's side of the vehicle as she poked her head out the window. "Could you press the loading dock floor for me? Thanks."

The man was so in shock that he automatically pressed the button and the doors closed as the sound of footsteps and loud voices from the security guards could be heard advancing towards the financier's office.

"Say you look like you're leaving work early," the woman commented further looking at the accountant. "Going to catch the football game? Yes, I thought so. Who do you think is going to win the Champion's League this year?"

The reality of the man's situation caught up and he summarily fainted. Stone looked at him disappointed before returning her attention to Bond.

"So James, who do you think…," she began when Bond held up his hand to silence her.

"I'm not getting into another football debate with you. Not after last time," he swore. 008 was shocked by his admission before lightly scowling at him.

"You need a better choice is what you need," she said upset. "How could you possibly pick…"

The elevator door opened and the subsequent roar of the engine drowned out the two Secret Agents heatedly arguing about football teams as the Aston Martin drove out onto the main road and away from the building as police and firefighters arrived en masse at the scene.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Skyfall is in theaters everywhere so go see it. I won't be making any money off of it if you do because I don't own the James Bond franchise.

MI6: James Bond, MI6's Secret Agent 007, was making the rounds at headquarters having spoken with Bill Tanner about some logistical questions and also Q about how some of the gadgets he had field tested in his last assignment had worked out. He was in the small kitchen, which was near the Double O offices so that if any agents needed anything quick to eat or drink they wouldn't have to venture down to the commissary for food, in desperate need of some coffee.

"Hello, James," said Samantha Stone, MI6's Secret Agent 008, entering into the kitchen as he was rooting through the cabinets. "Looking for something?"

"Yes, the coffee stirrers," Bond answered. Stone nodded her head as she poured herself a cup.

"Top left cabinet, I think," she responded. Bond found them and pulled one out and looked in the refrigerator for a moment and pulled out the creamer. He was about to open it and pour some into his coffee when a thought occurred to him.

"You didn't sabotage this again did you?" he asked suspiciously. Stone looked shocked at his accusation.

"I didn't 'sabotage' the creamer that last time, I happen to enjoy my coffee with Tabasco sauce," she opined snootily as Bond found himself not willing to take any chances and so he put it back on the shelf. "Besides, I tampered with the milk this time."

Bond sighed inwardly as he had been about to pick up the milk and instead left it where it was, also not willing to take any chances with it. He was taking his coffee black today, apparently.

"But seriously James, there's something important I have to discuss with you," Stone said all business. That got Bond's undivided attention.

"Do you want to discuss it here or in the office?" he asked concerned. Stone shook her head.

"No, we can discuss it here it won't take very long," she told him as she moved to shut the door. "Moneypenny wasn't sure if she'd see you today and so she wanted me to pass along a message to you."

"Go ahead," said Bond as he drank some of his coffee. Stone nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the scribbled note.

"We got a call from a Doctor Grimwaldi from someplace in the south end," 008 began somberly as she read the note. "I'm not really sure what kind of doctor he is, Moneypenny didn't say, but apparently he came across some female acquaintance of yours from your past."

Bond took all of this in silence, but the mention of the woman gave him cause for concern. True the secret agent had had a number of…dalliances…over the years for the sake of the mission and it often got the point where many figured he simply objectified women and nothing more. That wasn't the case, he did care in one way or another for all the women he took a personal interest, in but having long term relationships had no place in his line of work. Tracy was always an uncomfortable reminder of that as while he no longer wore his wedding ring, he did keep it safely locked up in his office desk.

Stone knew all of this of course and so did Alec Trevelyan before the unfortunate events of Arkhangelsk only a few years prior.

"Did this doctor give a name?" inquired Bond as Stone gave him a couple moments to let her statement sink in. Stone looked at her notes.

"Her first name is Ginger and her last name looks like Vitis, Vitice...something like that," she said at a loss. "Ring any bells?"

"No, but it sounds like somebody I might have met," Bond admitted truthfully with a shrug of his shoulders as he leaned against the counter. "You know how hard it is to remember all the names of people we run across with all the missions we go on."

Stone nodded her head as Bond considered another idea.

"Legit?" he had to ask. This wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened to him, after all only a few months earlier there'd been that business in Tibet involving a young woman purported to be Bond's unknown younger sister that had wound up being an elaborate ruse by a former enemy seeking revenge.

"I would assume so otherwise I don't know why Moneypenny would even bother giving this message to you," Stone reasoned. Bond nodded his head, it made sense.

"Did he say why she's under his care?" the male secret agent asked next, moving on from his initial reservations about the whole situation.

"No, due to doctor/patient confidentiality, just that whatever it is might be helped by your presence there. He'd like you to stop by his office at this time later today if you can," Stone noted as she handed Bond the note with all the details.

"I will," Bond promised, committing the information to memory. "Thanks, Sam."

"Anytime, James," said Stone glad that was over with as she opened the door once more and the two left the small kitchen. "It's probably nothing. You know how those doctor types are, always exaggerating things. Sometime it's like pulling teeth to get them to tell you the whole truth."

Later: The conversation with Stone was still on Bond was still weighing on Bond's mind as the meeting time with the doctor drew ever closer. He was having a quick drink from a water fountain when he saw Miss Moneypenny.

"Oh, hello James," M's secretary said cheerfully. "I wasn't sure if I'd see you today because I've been tied behind the desk. Did Samantha pass along my note to you?"

"Yes, she did," said Bond still unsettled as he put his hands in his pant pockets. "I hope everything turns out well."

Moneypenny looked at him perplexed. "James, I don't understand your concern."

James was about to respond to that as Moneypenny continued.

"After all, it's only a dentist appointment. I wouldn't be that worried unless you don't observe proper hygiene," she finished. Bond was going to voice aloud his initial response when Moneypenny's statement sunk in and he looked at her perplexed.

"What?" he asked, bewildered. Moneypenny looked at him dimly.

"You have your required dental examination with Doctor Grimwaldi this afternoon," she said as if that should've been obvious from what she'd told Stone earlier.

"Oh, right of course," said Bond a little flustered while trying to regain his composure. Moneypenny shook her head lightly at him.

"I swear you Double Os get so melodramatic sometimes," she quipped. "Just don't be late 007."

Bond meanwhile was working something out feverishly in his head.

_Ginger…Vitis….Ginger Vitice…Ginga…pulling teeth…_

Bond's eyes narrowed as the truth dawned on him. His next thought was why…and then a conversation he'd had two days earlier occurred to him.

"James?" asked Moneypenny concerned. Bond gave her his usual disarming smile.

"I won't be late," he promised. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to take care of something before I go."

Moneypenny nodded her head and the two went their separate as she returned to her office where she'd been dictating notes from M all day. As she returned to her office, she sat at her desk waiting for M to call with more notes she looked out her window past the blinds and saw what a beautiful day it was. While she wished she could be outside enjoying it, a blur of motion caught her eye. Looking below, she saw a figure racing out the front of the building and into the parking lot as a moment later a second figure emerged evidently chasing after the first. Moneypenny was watching the two figures dart around the parking lot for a few moments when she realized M had been paging her.

"Oh, sorry sir," she said apologetically into her phone.

"It's not like you to be absent minded Moneypenny," M's voice came over the phone. "What distracted you?"

"Well sir," Moneypenny began uncomfortably before deciding just to tell the truth. "It's just…James is outside chasing Samantha around the parking lot."

An exasperated groan was heard on the other end of the phone as the sound of blinds being shifted was heard. "Not again," M complained ruefully. "Don't those two ever get any work done when they're both in the office together?"

"Your guess is as good as mine sir," Moneypenny pointed out as down below Bond seemingly had Stone cornered when a car pulled out from a nearby spot and the female Double O darted past him and made it to the open sidewalk as Bond then chased her down the street and out of sight towards downtown London.

"Well he'd better be at his dentist appointment on time and she back in her in time for her mission briefing or they'll be docked half a day's pay," M ordered. Moneypenny noted her acknowledgment as both she and her boss wondered silently what had set the two off this time.

Two days earlier:  
"James?"

"Hmm…?"

"Did you really meet a woman named Pussy Galore?"

"For the thousandth time I don't kiss and tell,"

"Yes but…,"

"And I also don't just meet with women with unusually descriptive names either while on assignment so drop it,"

"Yes you do. I'll prove it someday, I swear,"

"I look forward to the day when you do,"


	8. Chapter 8

Early 1990s, Venice, Italy: As darkness set on the city, MI-6's best secret agent, 007 James Bond, found himself entangled in yet another romantic dalliance. He'd met the woman in usual fashion at the casino having destroyed her best attempts to win at baccarat. Needless to say the passion for the game led to another kind of passion heating up which is why he was now with this same woman in his hotel room, both losing themselves in each other.

KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK

The sudden sound of a knocking at the door almost seemed to ruin the mood.

"Who is that?" asked Bond's otherwise unnamed female companion.

"Ignore it," Bond told her with a kiss. "Must be the wrong room."

After a couple more moments of them making out, the sound of a card being stuck into the card slot on the door was heard. To Bond it was increasingly annoying that this intruder was likely so hammered from the bar downstairs they had no idea where they were. If other things weren't already on his plate, Bond had half-a-mind to go deal with that person.

CLICK

And then the sound of the door unlocking completely focused Bond on this new intrusion. The door swung open and light filtered in from the hallway into the mostly darkened room. 007 could barely make out a female form who stared at him and the woman he was with in silence for a couple moments before opening her mouth.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY AND SLEEP WITH MY FIANCEE!" shouted the woman who sounded half-crazed...yet somehow familiar to Bond. The other woman he was with was completely stunned as she stared at the new arrival and then at Bond.

"AND YOU!" shouted the woman in the doorway at Bond with a malevolent glare in her eyes. "HOW COULD YOU CHEAT ON ME ONLY DAYS BEFORE OUR WEDDING?! I'LL MURDER YOU BOTH!" the woman swore before turning her eyes on Bond's companion. "STARTING WITH YOU!"

The female in the doorway came straight at the woman next to Bond who screamed and then grabbed her discarded clothing as the crazed female chased her around the room before the woman made for the open door and was gone screaming down the hallway. Bond for his part had dropped down on the couch holding his head in his hands in agony and utter humiliation as the half-crazed female suddenly stopped her rampage and began laughing so hysterically she nearly keeled over if not for bracing herself against a chair in the room.

"**I'll kill for this!**" Bond swore darkly as the other occupant in the room, MI6's 008 Samantha Stone, had tears streaming from her eyes due to the laughing.

"Oh…James…you…couldn't…but…it was…so…," said Stone unable to form a coherent sentence she couldn't stop herself from being amused at her joke. Bond now had a half-crazed look in his eyes as he faked a lunge at her and Stone gave an exaggerated yell and ran from the room as his female companion had earlier.

A couple moments later she returned having somewhat calmed down as tears were still visible on her cheeks. Stone rolled the luggage she had with her into the room and shut the door and saw Bond on the couch with a Scotch on the rocks.

"Hi James, how's it going?" asked Stone with a smile as if the previous event had not just occurred. Bond gave her an annoyed look.

"I hope you're happy. You have thoroughly ruined my evening!" the Double O agent said in a huff.

"Yeah, it was great!" said Stone pleased. "Besides, I'd say I just saved your evening. That woman didn't know jack about how to play cards, I'd say she was just there to get your attention. She was probably working for the enemy."

"Of course she was!" Bond snapped. "I was going to bring her here and pump her for information." The realization of what had accidentally slipped out of his mouth in front of whom his company was hit him a second too late.

"Of _course_ you were, I could tell," said Stone cheekily with a ridiculous grin on her face as Bond smacked his forehead in humiliation. Bond groaned and then looked at her again for a few silent moments so he could refocus his energy and this conversation which was getting away from him. Truth being told he wasn't that mad; just aggravated that Stone had managed to pull another one over on him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Bond had to ask as he leaned back in the sofa. "I thought you were on vacation. Can't you go bother somebody else?"

Stone looked at him confused. "Why would I go bother somebody else when I can make your life miserable instead?" she asked indignantly as Bond was hardly surprised by that answer…especially now that 006 Alec Trevelyan wasn't around to pester anymore. "But to answer your other two questions, I was on vacation but I heard you got out here on assignment so quickly that you weren't able to get equipped by Q-Branch. So I volunteered my services as a courier."

Bond looked at her dimly. "And by 'courier' you mean you found out they were going to be sending me equipment for my assignment and so you intentionally cut your vacation short and ran off with the package before anyone at MI6 could catch you."

"You'll get no argument from me," Stone concurred as Bond nearly avoided rolling his eyes at her. "Look my vacation was getting boring. I have nothing against the civilian life but when you've been in this job as long as we have you find yourself getting restless." Stone admitted as she opened the package from Q-Branch and began setting out the items on the coffee table.

"I know," agreed Bond in all seriousness as he took a drink from his glass. Being in a high risk job, Double Os often experienced a constant internal need for heart pounding danger and adrenaline which often either led to complete burnout or to an unfortunate end on an assignment. Although Bond and Stone had managed to largely avoid such a pratfall, over the years of being in their line of work it wasn't always easy. And so they constantly had to find creative outlets for releasing that pent up need for action that wouldn't result in any accidents.

Both of them refused to once more find themselves in a situation like they had during the dark days following Trevelyan's death at Arkhangelsk. M had temporarily pulled them both from future assignments over fears for their emotional stability. A few nights later after several rounds of heavily drinking together in complete commiseration, the two Double Os had found themselves out of their minds and squaring off in pouring rain on a cobblestone street outside a pub and had nearly come to blows with each other. They swore to never speak of it with anyone else or between themselves ever again but it still sometimes weighed heavily on their minds from time to time about what would've happened if they both hadn't come to their senses and completely broken down emotionally at that moment. If not being rendered senseless, both of them would probably have been dead.

"So what have you brought me?" asked Bond moving on while learning forward curious at the items on the table. "Do you even know?"

"Nope," said Stone pleased as she reached for the first one. "How about we find out?"

Bond gave a mild disapproving shake of his head at her antics even though he knew with her technology background that she could easily identify what each item could do after a brief examination.

After a couple, Bond suspected intentional, minor mishaps later, the devices were all identified and the capabilities thoroughly explained the two Double Os decided to call it a night.

"Where are you going?" 007 demanded as Stone made a beeline for the bedroom with her luggage.

"Well I'm not paying for a hotel room!" 008 responded incredulously. "It's bad enough I had to pay for a plane ticket that I'll probably never be reimbursed for. You can sleep on the couch."

Before Bond could protest that decision-after all he was the one on assignment and paying for the room so he should get the bed-Stone closed the door and locked it behind her. 007 gave a brief half-hearted scowl before finishing his Scotch and put the bottle away and lay down on the couch, briefly considered how to get revenge on Stone, and soon was snoring away.

Later that night the elevator doors down the hallway from Bond's hotel room opened and a quartet of heavily armed mercenaries clad in dark clothing silently slunk out into the hallway. Three moved with a purpose towards Bond's room as the fourth took up a strategic position near the elevator. The third stopped near the opposite end of the hallway a couple rooms down and held up a gun near the door as the remaining two took up a position near the wall outside where Bond's bedroom was. One of them then crouched down with a stethoscope like device and placed it against the wall.

Beyond they could hear muffled sounds of what sounded like heated lovemaking. The two commandos gave a mild grin as they moved to the doorway to the apartment. One produced a gun and aimed it at the door lock and fired. The door handle blew off and one of the commandos kicked it in.

KICK

POW!

As the two commandos raced into the room, the door suddenly went flying back at them knocking them both in the face. Before either could react, two pairs of hands reached out and dragged them into the darkness of the room and were then judo flipped onto their backs.

THIP…THIP

Before the commando a few rooms down could react, two bullets flew out and nailed the man in the heart and the head resulting in his immediate death. The remaining commando who was several feet away hit the elevator recall button while they reached for their radio.

THIP…THIP…THIP

Samantha Stone partly emerged from the room in complete concentration with her PPK with suppressor at the ready. She did a quick scan of the hallway before noticing the guard near the elevator. Without even a moment's hesitation she fired three shots, one of which hit the commando's hand that was reaching for the radio, the next shot hit the radio completely destroying it, and the third shot hit the commando square in the chest. The man stumbled for a couple moments before the elevator doors opened and then collapsed into the carriage with his dying breath as the doors closed in front of him.

Stone did another scan of the hallway to see if the events had attracted any attention, which it hadn't being so late at night. And so she ran out into the hallway with a towel and wrapped up the dead commando so he wouldn't continue bleeding and then quickly dragged the man into the room. She then ran back out and produced a can of spray paint which she used to try and cover up the blood trail that had been left behind. It wouldn't hold up for a detailed examination but any hotel guest would likely not notice it. She then walked slightly down the hallway and pulled out two motion trackers that had been deliberately put there to warn the Double Os of anyone coming near their room.

Inside, Bond had physically subdued both commandos that he and Stone had grabbed into the room. One of them had his neck broken and was dead and the other one had been severally beaten although still had consciousness which is why Bond was now tying him to a chair.

"You were successful?" Bond asked of Stone while he worked, although he instinctively knew she had been.

"Yes, that lovemaking ruse works every time," said Stone still impressed that an auditory diversionary measure she and Bond had thought up years ago continued to yield results.

"Where's the second commando you shot at?" asked 007 next as he tested the knots he had made. While busy with the two commandos inside he had still kept track of Stone firing two distinctive rounds of shots.

"He decided to make his resting place a steel coffin," 008 quipped. Bond nodded his head knowing it couldn't have been helped.

"What's your estimate?" he asked next in a half-finished sentence that Stone immediately knew what it meant.

"I'd say he'll be found sometime in the next three to five minutes, the authorities called in another two, and the police here in another five. Twelve minutes," Stone figured. Bond nodded his head in agreement.

"That's my thoughts as well. Can you pack up while I get some answers?" Bond requested although he knew Stone would rarely disagree an order from him. She nodded her head and quickly began grabbing the Q Gadgets and meticulously putting them away before retreating into the bedroom and packing hers and Bond's things as well in a meticulous fashion. Only a fool would rush about haphazardly throwing things into their suitcases in the vain hope of escaping only moments sooner. If randomly stopped by the police, a neat and organized suitcase would attract much less attention than a messy one.

In the main room, Bond threw a glass of water on the mercenary walking him up.

"You either tell me who you're working for or this is going to be very unpleasant for you," Bond warned simply. The commando looked at him with a bloody and broken toothed smile.

"I heard you before that you only have twelve minutes. You'll get nothing from me in that time," said the commando a little smugly despite his situation…possibly from the blood loss.

"Oh you don't understand," Bond disagreed with a shake of his head as he advanced on the man. "That twelve minute conversation was for your benefit. I promise that when I leave this room I will have my answer. So with time so short for an interrogation, you can guess how unpleasant this will be for you."

Bond advanced on the man maliciously who began to look very concerned. In the other room, Stone was finishing up packing the suitcases and didn't even lose a beat when the sounds of the commando crying out in pain and terror came filtering through as Bond began his interrogation. She finished packing and was doing a quick sweep of the room when 007 called out to her.

"Sam, can you whip me up an Interrogator 354?" Bond asked from the other room. Stone looked around the room and focused on the radio clock.

"Thirty seconds," she promised and headed over to the device and unplugged it from the wall. She then brought it over to her suitcase and took a small set of tools from a side pouch and then began working on the device. Exactly thirty seconds later she walked back into the main room where the commando was now a bruised and bloody mess and handed the now thoroughly modified clock to Bond.

"What…so the woman has…has t-be in the other room so s-she won't b-be offended?" said the commando trying to sound brave despite rasping out every word.

"Actually you should consider yourself fortunate that I'm doing the interrogation," Bond pointed out as he plugged the clock into a wall outlet.

"W-why?" asked the commando confused as Stone sat on his lap.

"It's because James over there needs information from you for his mission to succeed so he has to keep you alive until then. I'm not here under any assignment; all I know is that you just threatened his and my life," said Stone icily as her blue eyes took on a dangerous stare. "**I don't like it when people do that.**"

She then took her sidearm and forcefully pistol whipped the commando knocking out several teeth and nearly turning the man unconscious. She then got up and stood next to her colleague.

"I'll see you down at the bridge to the parking garage," Bond promised. Stone nodded her head as she quickly spun the suppressor off of her gun and put both away before redoing her brown hair into a ponytail and heading out the door. In the distance sirens could be heard wailing.

"Let me tell you a little bit about this device," said Bond to the commando as he ripped open the man's shirt exposing his chest. He then placed the device with its suction cups onto the man's skin and made sure it was secure.

"This device is rigged to stop your heart for the amount of time I set it for," said Bond twisting the dial so the numbers landed on 00:15. "Now before you really panic, it's been rigged for numbers and seconds because if I shut your heart off for fifteen minutes you wouldn't be coming back at all. But fifteen seconds is still a very long time. I do it once and you'll come back alive, I do it twice and you'll probably come back. I do it a third time and if you do come back you won't be able to form a coherent thought for the rest of your life."

Bond then reached over to press the snooze button on the device.

"Wait!" the commando protested. "Aren't you going to ask me who I'm working for first?"

Bond coldly shook his head disappointed. "You've wasted too much of my time to get that luxury."

He pressed the button.

Shortly thereafter Samantha Stone was waiting at the parking garage bridge waiting for Bond to arrive as the sounds of the police sirens grew ever louder. And then he appeared from around a corner straightening his tie and joined up with his fellow Double O.

"You get your answer?" asked Stone curious as she briefly yawned into her hand. Bond nodded his head as he took a hold of his suitcase handle and the two moved across the bridge as several police cars came to a halt underneath them as the officers rushed into the hotel.

"It was about what I expected but now I know for sure," Bond answered in complete seriousness before turning more jovial. "You know Sam I do have to apologize for what I said earlier. This was an entertaining evening after all."

Stone gave him her usual smile. "I knew it would be one way or the other. Excitement just comes with the territory." The two were now walking amongst the various cars headed for Bond's rental. They were almost to it and Bond had his keychain out ready to unlock the vehicle when Stone held up her hand to stop him. She too had a keychain and pressed the security button on it and a nearby BMW flashed its lights briefly. Stone then hit another button and the car roared to life.

"What, you got all the standard handheld gadgets and didn't expect the car to go with it?" asked Stone at Bond's questioning look. The two advanced on the vehicle and looked at its silver exterior.

"No Aston Martin?" asked Bond slightly disappointed taking the keys. Stone shrugged as Bond walked around to the trunk and unlocked it and threw in his luggage.

"I heard the bean counters think it'll be cheaper to switch over to BMWs for the next few years," the female Double O said, a little bit at a loss. "Anyway, the manual for the added extras is in the car but since we never have the time to read it I've written the gist of what I heard Q talking about it on a piece of scrap paper for you."

"Thanks," said 007 appreciatively as he got into the driver's seat and fired up the car. "So what will you do now?"

"Beats me," 008 confessed at a loss. "Guess I'll have to figure something out to finish the rest my vacation."

"Oh, I'm sure you will. Goodbye Sam," said Bond nodded his head as he clapped her on the shoulder before closing the car door and speeding off out of sight. Stone watched him go and gave a brief wave goodbye before sitting on her luggage and trying to decide what to do next as the sounds and lights of police sirens could be heard and seen.

She was narrowing down her possibilities when a pair of bright headlights was seen and Bond's BMW screeched to a halt next to her.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Bond through the open window with an amused grin on his face. "Get in."

Stone chuckled, pleased at this turn of events, as she threw her luggage in the trunk and got in the passenger seat as the car tore off out of the parking garage and away from the police cars and the hotel and off on their mission.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: This story takes place shortly after The Living Daylights.

MI6: James Bond, MI6's Secret Agent 007, entered into his office and looked over at the desk opposite his where a pair of crossed legs in nylons ending in black heels could be seen poking out from underneath a held up newspaper. Bond didn't even bother greeting the person behind the paper and instead took the long slender case he was carrying and placed it on the desk in front of the heeled feet.

The newspaper abruptly folded downwards as Samantha Stone, MI6's Secret Agent 008, looked at Bond in confusion.

"What's this?" she asked as she swung her feet off the desk and dragged the case across her desk.

"A souvenir from my latest mission," Bond commented as he headed over to his desk. Stone looked at him curious before popping open the case.

"Ooh, James, you shouldn't have," she said pleased as she pulled out a black sniper rifle from the case. She examined the gun, which was very basic in nature, for a few minutes and then looked down the sight for a few moments.

"Where'd you pick this gem up?" the female Double O asked, curious.

"Bratislava," answered Bond as he looked around his desk for the report he was expecting with M's comments on it from his latest mission.

"Smells a little bit and the wood stock feels warped," Stone commented as she scrunched up her nose for effect. "Did you fish this out of the river?"

"That's right," said Bond slightly impressed by Stone's deductive reasoning. "Technically the Soviet authorities fished it out after I dropped it in there but I had to make sure there were no loose ends with my latest assignment so I re-appropriated it."

Stone looked at the gun and noticed a crater in the left side of the neck near the stock.

"Not exactly in mint condition either," she noted, a little disappointed. "But then again they never are when it comes to us bringing back mission souvenirs for each other."

"Sorry about that," Bond genuinely apologized as he finished searching the top of his desk finding no report and then began searching his desk drawers for it.

"I'm guessing you were the one who took this shot and not the one being shot at," Stone figured as she carefully examined the hole. "I don't see any blood traces but those could easily have been washed away by the river. Getting soft are we what with perestroika and glasnost?"

Bond shot her a look before giving a self-assured smirk. "Never."

"Good," said Stone in completely agreement as she then tested the weight of the gun. "Lightweight. Female shooter?"

"That's right," said Bond again pleased with her deductions. Stone nodded her head.

"Guess that also explains why you didn't shoot the holder of this rifle," said 008 bemused as Bond felt slightly chagrined by her comment.

"She didn't know how to work that gun," he filled in for the information of which Stone was unaware.

"Ah," said Stone knowingly with a nod of her head. "I bet you scared The Living Daylights out of her when you shot that rifle out of her hands."

Bond chuckled at that. "That's what I said," he concurred before feeling a twinge of sadness as the man he had said that to, Saunders, had been killed over the course of the mission that had ensued due to the events in Bratislava.

Stone's observation of the rifle made it seem like she hadn't seen his expression momentarily drop, but with her trained senses he knew she had. Both of them would never ask the other about what was behind such lapses, each trusting that if the other had something to get off their chest, they would just say it.

"This gun is a little bruised on both ends," Stone said next as she looked at the gun barrel and the wooden stock below. "Was this thing in a proper case? It sure doesn't look like it."

"Oh, it was in a case," Bond told her as he leaned back in his chair having momentarily given up searching for the wayward report. "A cello case."

That gave Stone a momentary pause in her observations. Both her eyebrows shot up at that before she returned to looking at the gun.

"The barrel and the sight do seem to have taken more abuse than the stock," she agreed before stopping her examination and turning thoughtful. "You know, it's interesting you said a cello case. I remember being on a fact-finding mission about four or five years ago when MI6 suspected the KGB had placed some of their agents in various travelling orchestras who would carry out clandestine assassinations whenever they pulled into various cities. We suspected sniping was the main method of choice."

"That is interesting," Bond had to admit as he thought about the implications of that. "You think they were hiding their weapons in cello cases?"

Stone shrugged. "We were never able to prove it but it made the most sense at the time. Assuming the weapons weren't disassembled before making the hit."

"Were you ever able to come up with a list of potential agents?" 007 asked curious. Stone shook her head.

"Nothing really conclusive. M pulled the plug on the whole operation and recalled me when 009 was found dead in East Berlin with that whole mess involving fake Faberge eggs and General Orlov trying to nuke that American airbase," Stone recalled. "But we did come up with someone we really thought might have been one of them. She was a cello player and was also a short little blonde number so you would've liked her."

Bond had turned completely quiet upon hearing that.

"The hell was her name?" Stone said trying hard to remember. "Sara…Lara…Kara. That was it, Kara Milosi…Milova…I don't, something like that. We were never able to prove it, though."

Bond was left completely at a loss by that statement as his mind was working furiously at Stone's recollection of past events.

"Oh and James," said Stone breaking into his reverie as she held up a paper report and broke out into a smile. "I guess we have a new mail clerk or something because he accidentally put the report from your latest mission on my desk. I hope you don't mind that I looked through it already."

Bond's head immediately dropped hard onto his desk as he beat the tabletop with his right hand in frustration as Stone burst out laughing. She got up and put the report in Bond's inbox before walking over to a large wardrobe in her nearby office that contained some clothes she occasionally needed to have on hand. She brushed those to the sides and placed the rifle behind them with a collection of various other sniper rifles she'd acquired over the years that MI6 refused to let her take off the premises unless it was for a mission. After putting the gun away, she returned to the main foyer.

"I don't know why I believe a word you tell me anymore," Bond ruminated aloud as he'd sat back up and rested his chin on his right hand while drumming his left hand fingers on his desk.

"That's because all of my wild stories have some truth in them," Stone pointed out mischievously. "It's up to you figure out what it is."

Bond didn't bother responding to that as he cracked open his report and began to read it.

"Hey James?" asked Stone softly after a few moments had passed. Bond looked up at her.

"I'm sorry about Saunders," 008 admitted truthfully. "He was a little wet behind the ears but he was still a good agent. I'm sure he would've made Double O some day."

Bond nodded his head but otherwise said nothing in response. Thinking long and hard about what ifs and changing past events was counterproductive to the work they did.

But Bond did find he had something to say. "Do you remember when he and I were on that mission together and we walked in on you in my hotel room and he automatically assumed you were a sexual dalliance of mine and not a Double O?"

Stone burst out laughing hard at that. "Yeah, because he didn't know 008 was female. And then I didn't help matters by claiming the 'absent' 008 was a much better lover than you were and we mock argued about it. He was about ready to throw me out of the room at that point."

Bond chuckled hard at that as well. "Guess I can't blame him because agency policy on all reports is to refer to all Double Os as male, regardless of gender. He always assumed 'Sam' Stone would be waiting to meet with us and not you. The expression on his face when it turned out you were who you really were was completely priceless."

Both Double Os continued to laugh almost uncontrollably at that event. It didn't help wash away the internal pain both felt about the actions of General Georgi Koskov and his revival of Smert Spionem, meaning _Death to Spies_, that had resulted in the deaths of a number of their colleagues. But every piece of distraction they could find did help a little bit towards keeping the darkness at bay and making the day go by that much smoother.


	10. Chapter 10

MI6, December 24: James Bond wasn't sure what he was doing in the office the day before Christmas…or how he'd gotten there. All he vaguely remembered was an all night celebration with acquaintances at the pubs and various houses, him hailing a taxi that morning, and then slowly coming to his senses with his head lying on his desk and being unable to lift it.

It was not that he was physically unable to lift it, but his head was still swimming, leaving his senses so impaired he could barely think straight enough to even consider it. It also didn't help that he had a hangover that was causing a pounding headache that was so painful that it felt worse than going twelve rounds with Jaws and Red Grant combined.

CLACK…CLACK…CLACK

But what made the situation even more unbearable was that for the past two hours and for some reason that Bond couldn't fathom, Samantha Stone was also in the office and was typing up a report using her old typewriter instead of her computer. She claimed it was because her keyboard was broken and that the report had to be done today but Bond wasn't entirely sure how true of a statement that was. MI6 was virtually deserted today for obvious reasons and that meant there was very little to muffle the loud noises of each key striking the padded page. Those sounds felt like a blow from an additional assailant-who would likely have been Oddjob-which caused his head to throb even more.

Bond just wished he could bring himself together long enough to snap at Stone to leave him alone in his pain and agony. There was no way this situation was going to get any better or any worse if he didn't do something about it.

"What's going on in here?" demanded a male voice cutting into his thoughts. Even without being able to lift his head to look at the speaker, Bond knew that voice and knew things were about to get worse as M strode into the room.

"Oh, hello sir," Stone's voice came rolling into his head. "What are you doing here? I figured you'd be spending today with your family."

"I came to pick up some things at the office," M answered. "Now what's wrong with Commander Bond?"

Bond wished he had the strength to respond but it seemed to be eluding him at the moment.

"Well offhand I'd say he's both shaken _and_ stirred, sir," said Stone mockingly and Bond had little doubt she was giving her wide grin right now. 007 seriously wished he could strangle her at that moment.

To Bond's relief, M didn't comment on his current situation as he instead appeared to be more interested in Stone.

"What are you doing with that typewriter?" M asked next.

"Typing up my monthly report," Stone explained.

"Why aren't you using your computer?" the head of MI6 asked next.

"Because the keyboard is broken," 008 explained.

The next statement hit Bond harder than any throbbing pain in his head.

"…But tech support replaced your keyboard yesterday," M recalled. Hearing that caused Bond to strain his hardest to concentrate on the conversation of the other two occupants in the room and try not to miss anything.

"They did?" asked Stone uncertainly as if not sure how to continue the conversation.

"They tested it for you to make sure it worked," M pointed out. Bond groaned inwardly before wincing again at the pain that caused.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," admitted Stone sheepishly but Bond wasn't buying it. And apparently neither was M.

"But you were here when they did it and-oh, never mind! Let me see what you've written so far," said M apparently advancing on the Double O and taking the sheet from her typewriter as Bond heard the paper tear.

"No, don't look at that, it's classified and I'm not done with it yet!" protested Stone.

"What is this?" asked M bewildered as he looked at the page, "Why have you been typing random letters on the keyboard on all these pages?!"

Bond's headache blossomed by ten-fold when he heard that statement.

"I-uh-I was testing the typewriter for accuracy, character, and line spacing," 008 stated matter-of-factly. "Yep, that looks good to me. Now to the actual report."

Bond didn't think he could take anymore typing as he held his head to try and ward off the possibility that it might happen.

"Hold on a minute," said M speaking partly to himself to try and recall something. "Samantha, what are you doing here anyway?! I told you at the beginning of this week to take the day off!"

007 audibly groaned this time upon hearing that.

"But sir!" protested Stone melodramatically. "Her Majesty's enemies _never_ take a day off!"

"Get out of here!" demanded M not willing to hear it. "And take the Commander with you! This is the holidays and you shouldn't be spending it in here. I'm not paying you two holiday time on top of what you're already getting for today."

Bond finally stumbled to his feet and while he couldn't yet open his eyes he felt his arm being draped across someone's shoulders, likely Stone's, and found himself being led out into the hallway.

"Look, I have three things to say to both of you," said M after a few minutes walking and Stone stopped along with Bond. Bond finally managed to open his eyes to stare blearily at his boss.

"One: James if you ever show up to work like this again I won't step in and stop Samantha from harassing you to her fullest extent. Two: Samantha if you ever pull a stunt like this again I won't stop James from taking out his wrath on you," M began.

"Sir, I don't think is the exit," Stone commented looking around and Bond's muddled vision found himself agreeing with her since they were basically at a dead end on the same floor as their offices.

"Which brings me to the third point," M continued ignoring Stone as he stepped over to the wall. "I had Q redesign the interior of the building to allow for easy disposal of any unwanted guests. So without further ado…Merry Christmas!"

M hit an unseen switch and the floor dropped out from under the two Double Os and they found themselves sliding down a series of tubes before being flung out of the building and onto the snow covered grounds outside.

"Bah humbug!" complained Stone as she got up and brushed the snow off of her outfit. "There goes my entertainment for the holidays." She further remarked having been unable to successfully drive Bond crazy before M had booted them out.

Bond, meanwhile, felt his headache starting to lessen if only because now his back hurt and the cold snow was now against his head.

"I'm just as disappointed as you are," he croaked out finally, having not spoken in what felt like forever. Stone shook her head in bemusement as she helped up her fellow agent.

"So now what are we supposed to do for fun?" asked 008 curious. The two Double Os thought about it for a few moments, Stone clueless and Bond having trouble thinking at all. It was because of this that both reached the same conclusion at the same time.

"Moneypenny," they both agreed in unison and Stone led Bond off to her car.

Miss Moneypenny was less than amused at having her holiday party interrupted by the two Double Os. Only Stone's commitment to being the designated driver and Bond giving Moneypenny a drunken kiss on the cheek under the mistletoe made up for it just enough in order for them to be allowed to stay.

…It was certainly better than the previous time when they crashed with Bond soon hunched over a garbage can from too much vodka and eggnog and Stone accidentally lighting her Christmas tree on fire. But that's a story for another day.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: The first part of this story takes placed before License to Kill, the second half after.

MI6: M, was sitting in his office in near complete emotional shock at the abrupt resignation of one of his finest agents in the intelligence network's long service to the government: Agent 007, James Bond. Bond had gone rogue out of loyalty to a friend who was in a dangerous line of work and had nearly been killed by a mark they had brought in who had subsequently escaped seeking revenge.

It was not that he wasn't somewhat sympathetic towards what Bond was feeling, but M knew pursuing personal vendettas was not something that would reflect well on her Majesty's Government. Not to mention be extremely dangerous for the one pursuing said agenda. And so he had gone to try and set Bond straight.

This wasn't the first time a head of MI6 had had to set Bond back on course, his predecessor hadn't been happy with Bond pursuing Blofeld for his wife's death but it happened to coincide with agency's goals and he let it happen. Other times when 007 had come close to the edge, a slight push would get him back on course. M was confident the same outcome would happen when he was to meet with Bond in Key Largo, Florida.

Only when the inevitable push came to shove, to M's complete and total disbelief, Bond finally shoved back. He refused to go on his assigned mission to Istanbul and abruptly resigned from service, in effect going rogue. A rogue agent was something that simply wasn't allowed for especially one with Bond's years of experience and intimate knowledge of the country's intelligence network. And so M was going through his list of available secret agents and field agents trying to find someone he felt might be able to retrieve Bond. All the while thinking if there hadn't been some other way that wouldn't have forced 007 to do what he did.

It didn't help that right now MI6 was facing a shortage of Double Os thanks to the Cold War heating up again between the United States and the Soviet Union, the latter of which seemed on the verge of total collapse. 003 had been killed only a few years prior on assignment in Siberia, 004 was killed only shortly thereafter during what should have been a routine training exercise that became all to real thanks to outside interference, 009 had died trying to warn the known world that a power mad Russian official intended to detonate a nuclear device inside West Germany, and everyone knew of 006's unfortunate end as his death had impacted the agency more than any of the others.

With so many 00s dead or replaced as time went on, that meant that the top three senior agents in MI6 were 007, 0011, and…008. M's eyes widened with realization at that as suddenly the matter with Bond had taken on a whole new dimension. James Bond and Samantha Stone had always been fiercely loyal to each other for years now and if Bond was now gone…

"Moneypenny," said M into his intercom speaker hoping his voice didn't sound too distressed. "Where is 008?"

A couple moments of papers being shifted were heard and then the voice of his secretary came over the speaker.

"She just now returned from that assignment in Sri Lanka about fifteen minutes ago," was her response. "She should be in her office by now."

"Tell her I need to see her in my office immediately," M ordered.

"I-yes sir," said Moneypenny a little distracted, undoubtedly about her concern for Bond's welfare. M shut off the speaker and returned to reading some things Moneypenny had recently typed up for him before scowling at noticing various typos. He was about to go out and give Moneypenny a good talking to about not letting her personal feelings get in the way of her work when a knock was heard on his door.

"Enter," he ordered as an exhausted Samantha Stone walked into his office. "Please be seated."

008 basically flopped down into the seat before regarding her superior.

"Sir, I'm afraid I don't have my formal report completed at the moment but I would be more than willing to give you a preliminary…," she began when M cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"This isn't about Sri Lanka," he told her. "And it's not a social call either. It's about Commander Bond."

Stone's attention became sharply focused on M upon hearing that.

"What about Bond?" she demanded as if she had no knowledge of his resignation. M knew better than that. Fifteen minutes was more than enough time for a Double O to analyze any situation. She was being coy with him and he wasn't happy about it.

"I'm referring to Bond's abrupt resignation from our agency," he said bluntly with an edge of tension in his voice. "I trust that might ring some bells."

"I may have heard something to that effect," Stone said, backing down rather than risk provoking an argument. "What of it?"

M leaned forward to emphasize his point behind all of this. "Personal vendettas have no business in our line of work. It causes you to lose focus and make mistakes and I don't accept anything but the best from my agents. And right now a personal vendetta has been hanging over 007 and yourself that has me very concerned. I've been willing to overlook it up until now but Bond's actions have forced me to confront it directly."

"I'm not sure what you're referring to. I knew Felix Leiter but not anywhere near as well as Bond does to go after an Isthmus drug lord," Stone replied matter-of-factly and intentionally ignoring what he was really driving at.

"I'm not talking about Leiter!" M snapped at her. "I'm talking about the death of Alec Trevelyan."

That name brought on a complete change of Stone's demeanor from shock to dismay to outrage to simmering hatred…all directed at the person in front of her.

"I fail to see what relevance his name has to do with any of this," 008 said tensely and slouching further and further into her chair as a sign of challenging his authority in this manner.

"Yes you do," M told her bluntly. "Ever since Arkhangelsk, the two of you have become more and more withdrawn with each passing anniversary of what happened and it is increasingly clouding your judgments. And it's clear to me that part of the reason Commander Bond went after Sanchez is the underlying fact that he cannot go after Colonel Arkady Ourumov." M further commented in reference to Trevelyan's killer.

That name got Stone's full attention as she immediately sat back up in her chair.

"You can't tell me that eliminating Ourumov is not in the best interests of Her Majesty's government," Stone insisted as if wanting to believe that herself. M however was much more level-headed than her surrounding the events of the past.

"I can because it is _not_ in our best interests," M stated matter-of-factly as he clasped his hands together in front of him. "Ourumov is an officer who follows orders, nothing more. Unless he suddenly finds himself feeling creative in regards to dealing with the free world, we have no reason to go after him. If we did so now, the Soviet Government would not look very kindly on our actions. They could ignore one of their officials getting killed during an explosion at a weapons depot or getting killed because they had authorized a program to kill foreign spies, or any other number of possibilities that involve a genuine threat to those abroad.

But if you think for one moment they'll just sit down and ignore an unprovoked assassination attempt on a Soviet Official then you're a fool," M continued not willing to mince words.

"There is provocation!" Stone insisted as if it were obvious. "He killed a Double O agent!"

M shook his head. "We are not in the business of revenge."

"But we take care of our own," 008 pointed out likely in reference to 003, 004, and 009 and Bond being able to exact some measure of retribution against their killers.

"Just because 007 happened to be in a position to do that does not mean MI6 deliberately put him there for that reason," M responded dismissively of Stone's statement. "Under no circumstances are you to terminate Ourumov without just cause or prior approval. Failure to do so will result in you being drummed out of the service and placed before a tribunal. Have I made myself clear?"

M waited with a baited breath for Stone's response. If she was going to follow Bond's footsteps by resigning from the service now would be a moment to do so.

"Yes, sir," said Stone a little deflated at M's orders but not willing to further argue against them on that issue. M for his part breathed a silent sigh of relief that he still had her for now.

"Good," he said trying to sound a little sympathetic before moving on again to more serious matters. "Has Commander Bond attempted to contact you since his resignation from the service?"

"Not that I'm aware of," answered Stone sounding truthful. But if she was lying it would be nearly impossible for M to prove it.

"Why do you ask?" asked 008 curious. M debated whether or not he should tell her before deciding it was best to take the direct approach.

"I'm curious whether or not he would ask you to join him on his little crusade," the head of MI6 had to admit frankly. Stone briefly chuckled into her hand at his concerns.

"It's a moot point because he'd never ask me to join him," she informed her boss. "Bond prefers to work alone, all Double Os pretty much do, and so do I."

That final statement brought M to his final point he intended to make with Stone during this meeting.

"But sometimes it is necessary in our field to work with fellow Double Os and field agents to get the job done," he pointed out as he reached across his desk and pulled a dossier that outlined the details of that mission. Stone meanwhile silently scoffed at such a statement. "Take your mission in Sri Lanka for instance."

Stone immediately started at that. "Official policy states that I am allowed to submit a formalized report on any mission before being reviewed about what occurred during said mission."

M waved her concern off. "This isn't a review. It's just a commentary based on the original mission briefing," he sighed as he read the details. "To be honest, when you went on this assignment I wasn't entirely expecting you to return from it alive."

It took Stone a moment to collect her thoughts about that statement.

"You did what you had to do," Stone sulked as she again sunk into the seat. "Assigning agents on missions like that comes with the job."

M groaned at her statement. "That's not what I meant. What I'm saying is that you needed help on this assignment either from another Double O or a field agent and you refused it. This mission was too big for any one person to accomplish and you barely walked away from it with your life."

"I'm just that g-," began Stone arrogantly when M held up his hand to silence her.

"No, you're not. No agent in MI6 is," he put it bluntly. "Knowing your limitations and when to ask for help is just as important as being able to do a job solo. You used to know that and so did Bond. But after Arkhangelsk the two of you have become more and more withdrawn and taking on more and more dangerous assignments. Right now it's you with Sri Lanka and Bond having gone off to face Sanchez with no backup and no help from MI6.

If you two have a death wish then do it on your own time but not while on assignment. This agency has spent too much on your trainings to lose you for no good reason." M concluded. He waited as Stone digested that particular piece of advice and she slowly sat back up in her seat.

"Understood sir," she reluctantly admitted. M nodded his head and then leaned back in his chair as he knew he had to ask a very important question. One he hoped wouldn't set Stone off, but also one whose answer was vital to him deciding what course of action to take with her now that Bond had left the service.

"Samantha," he began softly, deliberately using her first name which garnered her full attention. "If I ordered you to retrieve James, would you do it? I need an honest answer."

Stone looked at him as a look of pure intense anger flashed across her eyes at him having had the gall to ask her that question. But then it passed as she returned to the more neutral state, her MI6 training in full effect.

"No," she swore. "Never."

M nodded his head, having fully expected that answer but in some ways dreaded it all the same. In addition to becoming more distant, he strongly suspected since Trevelyan's death that 007 and 008 had begun to slowly lose loyalty to MI6 and Stone's comment confirmed it.

M then reached for a second dossier and slid it across the table to her. "I know you just came back from one assignment but I'm going to have to send you off on another."

Stone was about to protest so M just continued talking to silence her.

"007 was supposed to have gone on assignment to Istanbul but now that he's unavailable that makes you my only available option for getting it done," he told the female agent. "It's a fairly light assignment but it requires the services of a Double O as it may require whoever goes on it to have a license to kill."

Stone picked up the dossier and looked through it.

"Sam, I'm giving you this assignment because I hope you'll come to your senses and realize nothing good can come from this path to destruction you're now on," M said while silently hoping similar circumstances would occur with Bond. "If you have no questions about the assignment, you're free to go."

Stone looked at him briefly and M briefly wondered if she was going to resign on him. But instead she said nothing and left the room in silence. M watched her leave and then felt the energy drain from him, grateful that his encounter with her had gone better than his last encounter with Bond. As he'd told Bond a couple years earlier when he had expression reluctant to kill General Pushkin, Stone was still a professional who followed orders even if she didn't like them.

His eyes then befell yet another typo on Moneypenny's work and he scowled to himself and got up to speak to her directly about it rather than simply phone her.

Later:

James Bond trudged through MI6 extremely weary in more ways than one. Going after Sanchez had taken a lot out of him both mentally and physically. Finding out his good friend had been nearly killed, resigning from MI6, ingratiating himself with Sanchez while secretly plotting his downfall, and finding himself on the verge of death more times than he could count while barely escaping with the skin of his teeth had really taken its toll on him.

To say he was completely surprised M had offered him his old job back was an understatement. But the world was on the verge of a new era with the Soviet Union seemingly on the verge of total collapse and that made the world perhaps more dangerous than ever. Someone with his skill set was desperately needed and Bond knew M would rather have him here where he could keep an eye on him than risk having a freelance former Double O on his hands.

MI6…after everything that had happened with Trevelyan's death and him quitting the service and nearly being recaptured by an MI6 field agent, Bond wondered if the place would ever feel like home again. At the moment it certainly didn't even though everyone he recognized gave him a friendly hello and welcome back which he verbally reciprocated.

He finally reached his office area and walked in, grateful to see a familiar location, when he abruptly froze in his tracks.

A pair of legs in black nylons ending in heels was draped over it as Samantha Stone was seen snoring away in his chair.

Bond watched her for a few moments confused before realizing that it wasn't his desk and chair she was using but rather her own based on the items on top of the desk that were clearly hers and that their chairs were stylistically different. Looking over at the place where Stone's desk usually sat he found his things and his chair.

Completely confused, Bond visibly cleared his throat as Stone was jolted awake by the noise.

"Oh, hello James, welcome back," acknowledged Stone sleepily as she slid her legs off the desk and sat upright. "Glad to hear you took care of that Isthmus drug lord. Since you were away for so long have you had any trouble readjusting to MI6?"

"Not entirely. But correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't my desk where you are now and yours on the other side of the room?" Bond confessed. Stone blinked and looked at the desk opposite hers and then up at Bond confused.

"Didn't M tell you when you were rehired?" she asked at a loss. Bond looked at her with equal curiosity.

"Tell me what?" he asked. He'd only had a brief meeting with M about what had happened and it ended with Bond promising not to abruptly resign again.

"Well since you resigned and acted in a manner unbecoming of a Double O agent, M felt he had no choice but to promote me," Stone informed him as she then yawned and stretched. "So I'm 007 now."

Bond's eyes narrowed at her. That wasn't how things worked in MI6. If a Double O was killed on assignment or retired that didn't mean the rest of the higher numbered Double Os got moved up a number. Instead they were simply replaced.

"Then who am I?" he had to ask. Stone smiled at him.

"008 of course," she stated as if that should be obvious. "Because of that I really had no choice but to move our things to their new positions."

"I see," said Bond nonplussed.

"Well, take your seat 008," said Stone with a smirk. Bond just lightly shook his head and walked over to the desk on the opposite side of the room. Sitting down, he looked around the desk and after a few moments had to avoid grinning himself. It wasn't that Stone had moved the things from one desk to the other; she'd moved the desks themselves. How she'd pulled it off without anyone outside noticing was beyond him.

"How did Istanbul go?" Bond had to ask, a twinge of regret that he'd basically forced that assignment on her.

"It went great!" said Stone pleased. "The actual mission itself was over very quickly and I just spent the rest of my allotted time on vacation. Here's your souvenir straight off the secret regional KGB officer's desk."

She tossed him a souvenir sculpture and he briefly looked at it and then set it on his desk.

"So what'd you get me?" Stone asked expectantly. Bond chuckled briefly and then tossed her a bundled stack of hundred dollar bills that was part of a stash he'd appropriated during his quest against Sanchez.

"Nice," she commented pleased as she flipped one of the sides and counted the cash before lightly sighing. "I swear the CIA needs a new way of tracking these bills. Their current method is just too easy to spot."

Getting up, Stone went into her regular office-which she had not bothered switching that around with Bond's-and went to the wardrobe she kept in there. She opened it up and then placed the stack of bills amongst several others on the top shelf. Between the tracking information and the possibility of M finding out, Bond and Stone knew they could never spend any of the money they acquired on their missions on themselves, but it made for a cheap and inexpensive gift when they didn't have time to go 'shopping'.

Returning to her desk, she was just sitting down when Bill Tanner burst in and automatically walked over to where Bond's desk usually was.

"Ah, there you are 007, I-," he began and then stopped in his tracks as he saw Stone there. He then looked over at Bond sitting where Stone usually sat and a look of bewilderment crossed his eyes.

"Was there something you needed, Bill?" asked Stone, her lips pursed to avoid breaking out into a mischievous smile.

"Don't be silly Sam, you're not…," began Tanner.

"Oh, but I am," Stone insisted as she spread her hands out over the desk. "If I weren't, why would my desk be here?"

Tanner laughed nervously as some of the gears in his head seemed to fall off their pegs.

"But that's not…but I…008?" he asked in his jumble of thoughts having not turned to face Bond.

"Yes, Bill?" and the male Double O as it took all his self control to avoid laughing. As it was, he held his hand in front of his mouth to hide any physical evidence of his feelings about the whole situation.

"It's not…how…I…," began Tanner as his train of thought completely derailed at this revelation. He then trudged out of the office in a stupor as both Double Os burst out laughing after a few moments.

"Well if there's nothing that needs to be done today, I think I'll call it quits early," Stone figured. She got up and took her jacket off the coat rack and headed for the door. "It's good to have you back, James. Things just get boring when you're not around."

"It's good to be back," Bond said and felt good that he meant it.

"One more thing before I go, 008," Stone began right before she exited the room.

"What is it, 007?" Bond inquired. Stone chuckled briefly to herself at that.

"Please put these desks back where they belong. I had enough trouble this morning getting them to where they were," she requested. Bond nodded his head at her and then she was gone from sight.

Before Bond could even get to the task of taking the things off their desks, M burst into the room.

"What's this I hear from Tanner's mumblings that you and Stone decided to switch agent numbers?" he demanded of Bond before noticing he wasn't in his usual spot in the room. He then looked from Stone's empty desk to where Bond was sitting and dismay crossed his features. "So it is true! Well there will be none of that in this organization. You and Samantha are going back to your original designations and I won't hear any protests or arguments against it. And put these desks back where they belong!"

M spun around and was marching back towards the door when he briefly stopped in his tracks as he realized he'd based his entire conclusion that Bond and Stone had switched numerical designations solely on the fact that their desks were in different places in the room. Not willing to let Bond see embarrassment on his face, M continued out of the room.

Bond for this part immediately closed the door and then slumped against it he was laughing so hard.

It was good to be home.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: In honor of Skyfall being released on the home video market, the bookends of this chapter take place during the word association during the film and the middle part takes place shortly after Bond's scene with M at the end of the film. There are some spoilers.

MI6: James Bond, Secret Agent 007, sat in a single room with a psychologist playing word association games while inwardly desiring to be done with all of these pointless games to try and test his mental and physical condition. Work needed to be done because whoever stole the encrypted hard drive full of embedded agents and had also blown up M's office wasn't just going to sit idly by and wait until he was at full strength before making their next move.

"Screw," said the psychoanalyst breaking into his thoughts.

They weren't even trying anymore with these words.

"You," said Bond un-amused. The psychologist sighed briefly but wrote down a note and went on to the next word as Bond tried to figure out how to get out of this situation without causing a scene to those watching him behind the two-way mirror on the far wall.

"Stone," said the psychoanalyst next. Bond was about to give a half-assed response when the word that had been said finally registered with him. He looked at the analyst who looked back expectantly and a little bit curious as Bond hadn't responded right away to the word.

"Stone," the man repeated. Bond took a deep intake of breath before responding back.

"Samantha," he told him wondering what the man's reaction would be. The word did throw the analyst off as he clearly had no idea who worked at MI6 let alone who the agency's secret agent 008 was. He certainly hadn't been expecting a female first name to be uttered by Bond after all his previous responses.

"Ally," the man said next. Bond figured the man would expect the word "non-existent" back and Bond was only too happy to disappoint him.

"Her," 007 answered definitively with a tip of his head in reference to the previous exchange. That answer really threw the man off and he fumbled with his writing utensil briefly before making his notation and looking back up at Bond.

"Comrade," stated the analyst, and to Bond it almost sounded more like a question than a simple word.

"Absolutely," he confirmed with a nod.

* * *

Bond had just received his orders from the new M and was heading back to his office-his new office now that MI6 had permanently abandoned their original building in favor of a new location that for all appearances to the outside was called "Universal Exports"-when he paused briefly outside as he heard a faint noise coming from behind the door to the central area that gave access to his and three other agent's offices. Seeing as their shared secretary hadn't been appointed yet, and briefly wishing Moneypenny hadn't already been snapped up, Bond raised an eyebrow curiously. The secret agent then palmed his new PPK in his hand and silently opened the door.

Moving softly into the room, Bond was completely alert…until his eyes fell upon the disturbance and his eyes narrowed briefly and with a soft shake of his head he put his PPK back in its holster. Across from his desk, which was now in the central area, was another desk atop which a pair of long legs in black nylons rested atop its surface and in the chair next to it a Caucasian woman with fiery red hair sat softly snoring away.

Bond shook his head lightly as he wondered as he often did what it was Samantha Stone, MI6's 008, did when off duty that caused her to constantly sleep in the office. But then he chided himself knowing that he was often much the same way for reasons not worth discussing with others and so he wrote off her behavior as he always did.

Besides that, it wasn't as though the other Double O was actually asleep. All Secret Agents slept with one eye open so to speak regardless of their location and 007 knew 008 was fully aware he was in the room with her. Walking over to his desk, he picked up a long thin box on the ground and set it on the desktop and opened it to reveal a Heckler and Koch MSG-90 sniper rifle that he'd acquired on part of his last mission to question an assassin named Patrice that hadn't ended well for the man.

Picking up the gun, Bond walked over to Stone's desk and slammed the weapon onto it. The loud noise would've startled virtually everyone awake, but Bond was hardly surprised when Stone yawned briefly and stretched out her arms for show before slowly opening her eyes and focusing on the man in front of her.

"Careful with the merchandise, James," 008 told him as she swung her legs off the desk. "You'll lower the resell value of the weapon…even for ones that use depleted uranium shells."

"Resell value," said Bond acting disappointed at her concern. He hadn't seen her since well before his 'death' at the hands of Moneypenny and somehow being in a room with her for less than five minutes it felt like they'd never been apart.

"Gotta plan for retirement," Stone pointed out with a wicked grin as she picked up the weapon in her hands. "Why, upset that I didn't fall apart at seeing you alive?"

Bond shook his head. "Only if you _had_ fallen apart," he admitted, although he knew she had heard about his seemingly miraculous resurrection despite being on assignment during the whole Silva affair.

"So did you think I was dead?" Bond had to ask as he returned to his desk to go over the assignment M had given him.

"No," Stone scoffed at such a ridiculous idea. "Did you think I was dead after that mess I got into in Georgia?"

"No," Bond agreed. "So then what did you think?"

Stone shrugged as she began taking the rifle apart. "I was more surprised you were put of action because Moneypenny shot you."

"Accidentally," Bond pointed out in her defense. "I suppose you wouldn't have made the same mistake?" he inquired.

"Let's just put it this way," Stone began as she swung the rifle up and looked through the scope as she aimed it at Bond. "If I'd shot you, you _know_ it would've been on purpose."

"You'll get no argument from me," Bond agreed as he began reading his mission briefing. Stone put the rifle back on the desk and continued disassembling it.

"Course, it was kind of disappointing to not be able to go find the person who shot you and get revenge," Stone reluctantly admitted. Bond looked at her skeptically at her statement and Stone shook her head in acknowledgment.

"Cold-blooded revenge," she amended.

"Ah," said Bond as he recognized the truth. "Made her life hell did you?"

"Well a girl never jokes and tells," Stone told him lightly. "Plus I knew you weren't dead so it wasn't an all out attack on my part, more of an icebreaker between us. She displayed grace and poise after what happened so she's got my respect."

"Yes, I like her too," Bond informed his fellow Double O as he continued reading his dossier. "So what do you think of the new M?"

"Don't know yet, but he seems to be okay," Stone said noncommittally as she pulled out the barrel of the rifle and examined it. She then took out a small kit and took a cotton swab and rubbed it inside the barrel before placing it in some solution and checking the resulting color it made.

Bond didn't ask for Stone's thoughts on what had happened to the previous M. Double Os tended not to dwell on the past without good reason.

"And Q?" wondered Bond.

"Needs some more sun but he seems to know his stuff," 008 told him. She then looked at the color on her chart versus the color in the vial.

"Damn," she said disappointed. "Guess he wasn't using depleted uranium shells with this particular weapon."

"Sorry," said Bond apologetically. Stone waved off his concern as she began putting the weapon back together.

"So how was retirement?" she asked curious.

Bond thought about it for a few moments.

"Boring," he concluded. "How as your most recent assignment?"

"Okay, I guess," Stone figured. "I don't go to the States that often so it was nice to visit. Not so nice for the people I visited, but that just comes with the job."

"That reminds me, you didn't get me anything?" asked Bond a little disappointed. Stone looked at the door expectantly.

"I did but I guess it didn't get here in time," Stone mentioned, a little upset about it. And then there was a knock on the door and a postal worker came in and Stone's expression turned to excitement as she signed for a series of long slender packages.

"I was hoping these would get here before you left," she said eagerly as she took out a knife and began cutting the tape on them as Bond got up and curiously and walked over to her desk. "Towards the end of my assignment I went a little out of my way and crossed paths with a gun collector in Idaho. Turns out he'd been posing as a collector and then fencing the weapons to various groups. So I took some stock off his hands after turning him in."

Popping open one of the boxes, Stone pulled out a hunting rifle and slipped the cardboard holders off of it and then handed it to Bond. He looked the weapon over and had the vaguest impression that it looked familiar but he then set it down on the desk as Stone handed him another one. Bond looked at it and again got the feeling he'd seen the gun before.

After several more rifles and the oddest senses of déjà vu, Stone finally popped open the final box.

"The piece de resistance," Stone commented as she pulled out the final rifle and handed it to Bond. Again the Double O looked the rifle over, desperately wishing he could place the weapon when his eyes fell upon the stock and he was so startled by what he saw he took a brief step back.

Engraved on the stock were the letters "JB". Bond held the rifle in his hands as memories flooded through him of a much earlier and happier time when he'd held this same weapon in his hands out in the fields at Skyfall. Looking over to the other weapons, he finally recognized them as being the ones that had been in the weapons cabinet back in his childhood home that had been all sold off when he was thought dead.

"Thank you, Sam," said Bond sincerely as he began collecting the weapons. Normally sentimentality in their line of work was liable to get one killed, but this was perhaps a rare exception.

"Anytime, James," Stone promised. "Anytime."

Bond placed the rifles on his desk to look through later when he got back from his assignment as he grabbed his coat to finally head out.

"Oh and thanks for scaring away any potential renters for my old apartment," Bond also admitted as Stone began chuckling evilly at that.

"Just…give the place a once over for any booby traps I may have forgotten," Stone told him. "It's good to have you back, 007."

"Glad to be back, 008," Bond stated with a nod of his head and then he was gone out the door eager to get back to work.

* * *

"Friend?"

"Always,"


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This take place immediately after Octopussy.

MI6: James Bond, Secret Agent 007, was sitting at his desk examining a pair of diamond encrusted priceless Faberge eggs as across from him, Samantha Stone, MI6's 008, was at her desk reading from the newspaper, The Times.

"Chaos briefly gripped West Germany when it was discovered that a dance troupe had unwittingly smuggled a nuclear warhead onto a U.S. Air Force base," Stone read aloud. "The warhead was successfully disarmed by a man dressed as a clown…," 008 continued before briefly rearing her head back and shooting a glance at Bond who tried to avoid turning a shade of red at what hadn't been his best undercover disguise.

"You do what you have to do," he admitted sheepishly.

"Along with help from the owner of the circus troupe, a woman named Octopu…wait…WHAT?!" shouted Stone astounded at the name she had just been about to read. Her jaw dropped for effect as she dropped the newspaper on her desk and leaned back in her chair as she contemplated this turn of event.

Bond groaned lightly at that as he knew one of the hot button topics with her were the colorful names of the women he sometimes encountered in the field while on assignment. It had been sometime since the events with Auric Goldfinger and Operation: Grand Slam and still she occasionally demanded to know if the name she'd heard of the female pilot who'd helped him had actually been true.

"Where do you find these women?!" was Stone's next question that she usually asked in matters like this.

"I don't find them, they find me," Bond informed her as that was the truth. It wasn't his fault he tended to be a magnet for those with unique names.

"Well I sure haven't run into any of them on my assignments," Stone pointed out. "None for the males either."

Bond looked at her skeptically. "What about that one time on the Swiss mountain train with-," he began when Stone immediately pointed to him.

"That's only because you were there too," she reminded him. "And don't forget his sister's name was a lot worse."

Bond did have to nod his head at that as he tried to think up some other angle to take the conversation away from its current vector.

"I swear this is worse than finding out you met an astronaut named Holly Goodhead," Stone grumbled lightly as she brushed the newspaper off the desk into the recycling bin next to it. She then focused her attention back on Bond who was rolling the eggs in his hands.

"MI6 must be in good graces with parliament if that's your year-end bonus," Stone told him dryly. Bond chuckled briefly at that.

"Not quite. One of these is legitimate and the other one's a fake," Bond revealed. "And I have to give the real one back to M soon so he can return it to its rightful owner."

"Can I see them?" asked Stone curious. "It's not ever day you see something this valuable….at least, not before its gets blown up along with everything else its questionable owner was hoarding."

"I suppose," said Bond after a moment's thought about it. "This one's the fake one and this one's the real one," he continued as he indicated which hand had which egg.

Stone nodded her head and accepted the eggs gingerly. She weighed both of them in her hands and gazed at each egg which looked virtually identical to the one next to it before handing the fake one back to Bond.

Bond was returning to his desk when a noise behind him caused him to stop in his tracks.

CRAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKKK!

Bond's eyes instantly clenched together as he hoped he hadn't heard what he thought he had.

"Hey, James, what kind of egg is this?" demanded Stone from behind him. "There's no yoke in here so how am I supposed to make breakfast with it?"

Bond turned to look at her and his suspicions were confirmed as Stone had broken the Faberge egg in half and found it to be hollow inside.

"SAM, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Bond shouted. "You just destroyed a priceless work of art!"

"It was art?!" said Stone bewildered as she looked at the thing. "I figured it was priceless food like a truffle."

"No, it was a jewel encrusted egg and there were only 57 of those," Bond informed her dimly. "Make that 56, now."

"Oh," said Stone surprised as she heard that. "Boy is M going to be mad at you."

"At me?!" said Bond irate. "You're the one who broke the thing!"

Stone nodded her head. "You know he's going to say that you should never trust me with nice things. Especially if they're expensive and easily breakable."

Bond's eyes slightly widened at that point and his mind began working furiously to come up with some way out of his current predicament.

"I honestly don't know what to say at this point," Bond admitted at a complete loss. "On the one hand, I never expected you to break the thing but on the other hand I wonder why anything you do surprises me anymore."

Stone nodded her head. "Well on the positive side, I didn't break the real Faberge egg at all," she pointed out with a grin. "I used some slight of hand to switch them and handed you back the real one. I broke the fake one," she revealed, pleased with her little charade and wondering what Bond's response would be.

Bond blinked for a moment and then looked at her again.

"No, Sam, you broke the _real_ one," Bond informed her after a moment of silence. "I know because I used slight of hand to switch the real one with the fake one before you took them!"

Now it was Stone's turn to blink to stare blankly at Bond before what he said registered with her.

"WWHHHHAAAAAATTTTT?!" she shouted stunned as Bond nodded his head vigorously. "You mean you switched…but I switched…so they went back to the way they were?!"

"That's right," said Bond as he leaned onto the edge of her desk defeated. "And when M finds out, he's going to be madder than we've ever seen him before. And that includes the incident in the cafeteria."

Stone thought long and hard about this twist to the situation before the truth came to her.

"Oh, ha, ha, James," she said after a moment's thought. "As a professional con artist, I know when I'm being played. You do have the real Faberge egg and you're just trying to make me think otherwise."

Bond sighed as he shook his head at her naïveté. Reaching over, he picked up a broken fragment of the egg and held it next to the intact one he had in his hand.

"Do you see this little imperfection here?" he pointed out on the egg in his hand. "That's not on this destroyed one. That's one of many tells that any jewelry collector would point out when examining them for authenticity."

Stone stared at the two eggs as fear rolled over her that Bond was telling the truth.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to tell M?" she demanded next.

"Tell me what?" asked the Head of MI6 as he strode into the room ready to collect the egg and return it to its rightful owners.

"I broke the Faberge egg!" 008 blurted out before clamping her hands over her mouth. Bond's jaw dropped that she had outright said it rather than try and cover it up. That alone proved how out of control the situation had gotten.

"Oh, please," said M noting the destroyed egg on her desk and the intact one still in Bond's hand. "It's clear that you two are trying to pull one over on the old boss. Bond has the real egg."

"I'm afraid not, sir," Bond told him solemnly as he took the egg in his hand and smashed it on the desk thereby destroying it as well. Stone's eyes went wide as saucers at that as it finally proved once and for all that she had destroyed the real ornament.

"What did you do that for?!" Stone shouted at Bond. "We could've handed him the fake egg and had to deal with the consequences down the road."

"I don't want to deal with this mess down the road!" 007 shouted back at her. "None of this would've happened if you hadn't broken the real egg in the first place!"

The two Double Os now began arguing back and forth as M was now the one in total shock at what he had just witnessed. "I-but-he-she…I hate you bo…"

The strain was too much for him and the Head of MI6 fainted onto the floor.

"Oh, that's just great," said Stone as she threw up her hands aggravated at this new development, "As if we didn't have enough to deal with right now."

"Hey Sam," said Bond with an extremely humorous tone to his voice and a wide grin on his face. "Guess what?"

"What?" said Stone angrily in no mood for games.

"They both were fakes!" Bond revealed to her as he had produced a _third_ Faberge egg that he held in his hand…the real egg. Stone looked at him for a moment before she slapped both her hands onto her face.

"Oh fu-," she began at having been duped before she began laughing uncontrollably at what had just transpired. "Well done, James, well done." She conceded as she then drummed her fingers on her desk.

"Well I can't let you have all the fun," Bond reminded her.

"Oh, I agree. Except none of my stunts ever wound up with the boss passed out on the floor," 008 mentioned as she flicked her hand out to M's unconscious form.

"Icing on the cake," Bond commented before he began to consider the boss. "I suppose we should put him on the couch and when he wakes up then say he should get more sleep at night."

Stone nodded as she got up off her desk and walked over to M. "Of course we're the reason he has so many sleepless nights."

Bond nodded his head as he picked up M by the shoulders as Stone grabbed his legs and they slowly started heading over to the desk.

"Just a second, James, I'm afraid I might-," began Stone when suddenly her heeled shoes caught on the carpet and she dropped M's legs before stumbling forward and falling on his lap. Bond for his part also fell and he landed on his backside with M's head cradled in his lap.

The two Double Os went dead silent at that as each looked to M terrified. But the Head of MI6 was too deep into his sleep that he failed to stir at the action. Both Double Os breathed out a sigh of relief and holding their sides as they tried to stop from laughing and possibly wake up M.

"This would be such good blackmail on all three of us," Stone wheezed as tears came to her eyes.

"And me without my camera," Bond lamented as chortles escaped his tightly clenched mouth.

"C'mon, let's get him up before someone walks-," began Stone concerned.

CLICK

007 and 008's heads both shot up and stared at the entrance to their shared space as the door opened and Alec Trevelyan, MI6's 006, walked into the room. He was drinking from his mug and turned to close the door behind him. It was only when he lowered his mug to take a breath that he noticed the three other occupants of the room.

The three Double Os could only stare at each other like a deer in the headlights.

Once more drinking from his mug, Trevelyan slowly drank the whole thing, and then lowered his cup and wiped his mouth. He then turned to regard the occupants again as he slowly collected his thoughts.

"Why can I never leave this office for more than five minutes without coming back and finding you two in a situation like this?!" Trevelyan yelled at them as M slept on. 006 then inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out before dropping his head.

"Let's get him onto the couch," he ordered as he straightened back up and walked over and the three Double Os worked together to maneuver their boss onto the piece of furniture. Afterwards the three Double Os would spend the rest of their afternoon reminiscing about previous 'incidents' in the building and the havoc that had ensued.

It was one of the last times the three agents would enjoy together before the events at Arkhangelsk.


End file.
